A long-term study of 324 sex-reassigned persons in 2003 in Sweden concluded:

Persons with transsexualism, after sex reassignment, have considerably higher risks for mortality, suicidal behaviour, and psychiatric morbidity [diseased state] than the general population. Our findings suggest that sex reassignment, although alleviating gender dysphoria, may not suffice as treatment for transsexualism. (Read the entire study here)

There are thousands of others like me, who underwent the surgery only to discover that it did not help. The only results from the surgery were some cosmetic changes.

It might be easy to dismiss my opinions as just one man’s story, but I've done extensive research into what the experts say. You can read the results in Paper Genders.

SEX CHANGES ARE NOT EFFECTIVE, SAY RESEARCHERS

by David Batty, July 30, 2004, Society Guardian
The article resonates with me. I’ve included the beginning, but read the whole thing – it’s worth your time--

There is no conclusive evidence that sex change operations improve the lives of transsexuals, with many people remaining severely distressed and even suicidal after the operation, according to a medical review conducted exclusively for Guardian Weekend tomorrow.

The review of more than 100 international medical studies of post-operative transsexuals by the University of Birmingham 's aggressive research intelligence facility (Arif) found no robust scientific evidence that gender reassignment surgery is clinically effective.

The Guardian asked Arif to conduct the review after speaking to several people who regret changing gender or believe that the medical care they received failed to prepare them for their new lives. They explain why they are unhappy with their sex change and how they cope with the consequences in the Weekend magazine tomorrow (July 31).

Chris Hyde, the director of Arif, said: "There is a huge uncertainty over whether changing someone's sex is a good or a bad thing. While no doubt great care is taken to ensure that appropriate patients undergo gender reassignment, there's still a large number of people who have the surgery but remain traumatised - often to the point of committing suicide."

Arif, which advises the NHS in the West Midlands about the evidence base of healthcare treatments, found that most of the medical research on gender reassignment was poorly designed, which skewed the results to suggest that sex change operations are beneficial.

International research suggests that 3-18% of them (transsexuals) come to regret switching gender.

Research from the US and Holland suggests that up to a fifth of patients regret changing sex.

(see the entire article)


IN THE TRANSGENDER ZONE

Author David Batty talks about writing his article: (see the source)

The main article in Guardian Weekend was the result of 14 months of investigation, including more than 100 interviews with TS/TG men and women, activists, medics and other experts, as well as ploughing through dozens of research papers going back well over 50 years. I spent 2-8 hrs interviewing the main case studies - worryingly, several people told me I had asked them more about their lives than the psychiatrists who had assessed them.

Then he addressed my situation and the negative reactions I get by sharing my story:

Some in the transsexual community has done their best to discredit those who complain they have been misdiagnosed or improperly treated. The vast majority of those I spoke to who regretted surgery were not liars or chasing compensation. Many had suffered considerable trauma and confusion, some had been sexually abused in childhood, others suffered from severe mental illnesses. The degree to which most could have been held accountable for their poor medical care was slight IMO.

Batty reports he discovered in his interviews that

As several psychiatrists and transpeople said to me patients who are isolated, dysfunctional, in bad relationships, etc will probably remain so after surgery without proper preparation, care and support.

I think nothing has changed over the last 30 years—Meyers/McHugh concluded the very same thing back then. In Surgical Sex (Copyright © 1991- 2004 First Things), Paul McHugh says:

The psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Jon Meyer was already developing a means of following up with adults who received sex-change operations at Hopkins in order to see how much the surgery had helped them. He found that most of the patients he tracked down some years after their surgery were contented with what they had done and that only a few regretted it. But in every other respect, they were little changed in their psychological condition. They had much the same problems with relationships, work, and emotions as before. The hope that they would emerge now from their emotional difficulties to flourish psychologically had not been fulfilled.

We saw the results as demonstrating that just as these men enjoyed cross-dressing as women before the operation so they enjoyed cross-living after it. But they were no better in their psychological integration or any easier to live with.


MY CONCLUSION

I come away with the realization that good research and studies need to be done on the effectiveness of sex change surgery.

Homosexual and transgender activists continue to push sex change surgery as the "necessary treatment" but it may, in fact, cause irreversable damage to the patient.

Anyone considering the surgery should proceed with "extreme caution" and be evaluated by psychologists who do not have a reputation of promoting the surgery.

When I read that a respected medical institution in the UK evaluated more than 100 international medical studies of post-operative transsexuals and found no robust scientific evidence that gender reassignment surgery is clinically effective, I conclude that objective, scientific evidence is sorely lacking. Nothing about the procedure is proven or determined conclusively yet – not the diagnosis criteria itself, not the criteria for determining “successful” outcomes, nor the amount or strength of regret or happiness with the passage of time.

I fully understand others may come away with completely different conclusions--that is, perhaps, a good thing, because it proves my point, that is, the lack of objective pre-surgery "objective testing."

The diagnosis process becomes nothing more than the equivalent of psychological diagnosis by Russian roulette.

I am guessing that you might like to know my own opinion on this seeing that I posted the article..Ok , here goes..
My opinion is this , I am happy being like I am , femenine yes, love all things girly yes, like sex, yes, find bulge in knickers annoying yes..I would be happy to have some hormone treatment, even boob job, but the meat and two veg off ? NO..As a person just in general I want to be desired in some way by whatever sex and I feel that as i have found things to be as they are now even I can have some success with women and loads with men..I feel that that would continue even after mones and/or a boobjob, but not after GRS..What use is a manufactured vagina? Men like us for what we are, chicks with dicks, they dont want false fannies when they can have real ones! What are your thoughts ..April xxxx

Definite food for thought here. For some of us surgery is impossible due to commitments to family etc. So now if some waved that magic wand would we still do it? Or would we stop just short? I don't know and may never have the chance to find out.
But I do know two people at least who will be very glad to get rid of their nasty meat and two veg. And if I can help them by being understanding I will be, just as people have been there for me.
In the end some will go too far and other not far enough but making it harder for those that do want it is not right. This is a hard road to follow already.

Thank you Josephine for your reply.This post has been up for 4 hours now and tl xxxhis is the only reply !!! Proves a point really...April xxxx

is it just me?? or by not replying you may be in some sort of denial? COME ON , all and I mean all of you are all to quick to post , mones next week cant wait' going to see the the doc soon hope its ok,,STOP..Have you all stopped and thought??? Have you really?Thought long and hard I mean, stared into that log fire, the same fire of desire that you seem to think is burning within you? Well if you haven't then stop what you are doing now..Perhaps by me writing this some of you think I am against it,,no, i am not, I just want you all yes all,, to stop, just for a minute, take a step back from yourself and think about all the permutations of helldome that you can think of...Then think of the good points, if they outway the bad then you are doing the right thing xxx April xxx

Maybe we're thinking about it. I know I am!
Thank you for posting the article.
Whatever the outcome, I feel its really important to offer whole hearted moral support to those who still decide to follow the full scale GRS route.

Yes Feefy oh hi bye the way xx, so do I . I am nit against it at all, I am trying to get people to think longer and harder than they already do because i really do not think it is an answer ...thats all xxx April

I cannot see for the life of me that people that look good already as girls that losing the m&v is going to be good...yes, ok a clean panty line ...but honestly, no interest from either sex is going to hurt...I know that I would not be interested , why would a man and certainly not a girl...The desire to be a girl in appearance loses all desire in sexuality...sorry,,,not for me , at all ..April xx

Thx for posting this, it rly is an issue that needs to be thought long and hard about,( no pun intended ) lol, as for myself i rly detest my M&V but my wife loves it even when im fully fem she knows that the person she loves and finds sexualy atractive is still there.

I'm not against asking everyone to think and know how often people don't bother to do that even for really important issues in their lives. I am against putting bigger hurdles in the way of those that have thought. Yes there are lots who go with the flow and are ruled by the experts. Some of these experts have never experienced the feelings and just go from what they have been taught - if they qualify as a TS then they need surgery but with more cuts coming the teaching will be not all TSs gain from surgery so let them wait until they know!

thanx april a very thought provoking topic and has my head still in a whirl as what i want and need to do in the long term

hugs xxxxx

great post =) ive recently come out to my family and doctor after years of turmoil....i spent twenty years thinking of the pros and cons of transition and if it would be right for me before i told my doctor and asked to be referred to see somebody who specialises in the subject.... i was never so sure about anything in my life and full srs has been my lifelong dream but for all those who have that dream....remember that the reality of life is very different from that perfect picture we all paint in our minds....i personally feel that i will never be happy as a male and that time is slipping away and i was ready to transition and that id made the right decision by coming out....but now as i start this journey there is something deep inside (doubt/caution) that tells me that srs isnt going to necessarily mean "guaranteed" happiness for me... this alone is making me question myself more than i ever have before....thats the problem with our situation...the grass looks greener on the other side from a distance...but as you get closer and you see more clearly....you realise that the grass isnt quite as green and lush as it looked....so be sure to have a good look at that grass before you decide to jump over that fence....im currently sat on the fence and still cant really say which is the best grass....what im trying to say is it will always be an unknown risk.... i suppose it comes down to wether your willling to gamble with your life....many will win....but many will lose......the battle continues ......peace and good luck to all x

well said jade. my self from an early age i have know i was wrong. even to the extent of nearly doing the job myself at the age of 2. im now 37 and wish my mum hadnt have stopped me but she did. im also married to an unsympathetic partner but one whom i love more than life its self who has made it clear if i go the the marriage is over so for that reason i dont seek to transition. back to the topic dose this report make me think more about not transitioning no i know how i feel inside and how much i am repulsed by whats down there. as for sex i have no interest for contact from either sex infact i cant even remember the last time i was intimate there for i feel that point is invalid. on the other hand i have friends who have transitioned has it made them happy? on outwardly appearance yes but they still have depression some even have suicidal thoughts dose this make me want srs any less no if my situation was different then i would deffo go for it. i mean no disrespect when i say this but you are happy with you therefore you can not know how this limbo feels

no disrespect back but youve misunderstood what im saying...it doesnt say anywhere in my post that im happy with me? if i was happy with me i wouldnt want to transition...the thing is im seriously unhappy...i have major depression as i am already... if i did transition then it could go one of two ways...id either be a lot happier or a lot unhappier... if it went the happier way id be made up... if it went the unhappy way then i would be suicidal....and the question i ask myself is am i willing to risk it? do you understand where im coming from now?

Hi April and all you other Girls.
To be honest I am one of those shouting about how happy I am. I am starting the process and yes I have been caught up in the Euphoria of the decision making recently.

I think it makes some valid points. If someone has a predisposition to mental health issues or has other psychological issues that aren't addressed prior to gender reassignment it's not going to fix these.
I think, and it is my opinion, that if you do have these issues you need help with them or coming to terms with them before even considering the reassignment. You will still be the same person on the inside.
So much is spent on the outside and that's the easy part. Surgery it's quick (relatively) and then you're left as new person on the outside, but inside you may be happier as your living in your new gender but still deep down the old issues if there are any unaddressed will be there.

That's why the whole Real Life Experience of 2 years whilst it seems a very long time is probably a sound idea for this reason.
If you have any doubts then it can't be for you and purely because it is a MASSIVE IRREVERSIBLE change.
That said if you are so unhappy as a male, hate your genitalia and can't live as you are. You haver a right to change.

I think that there should be (there may be in some PCT's) follow up psychotherapy post op for those that are vulnerable.
It makes sense to me anyway.

Hi jade I was referring to April with the last part I understand only too well what you are going through and had the utmost respect for you in the fact that your doing what I wish todo but never will

Hi, No Rebecca, I am not happy with who I am, It's because just like you I wake up everyday and wish I had been born a girl, And get up and wear womens clothes everyday, my mind not letting me wear mens clothes..I have been through losing the gf I had for 15years and friends of even longer..I think the difference is that I am a sexual person and do care about whether anyone would want me after surgery..As I posted somewhere else I would have hormones and boobs etc but having read reports and heard from tv programmes that in many cases after surgery very very few people desire you that puts me off because then I do think I would become suicidal..So Rebecca I do know all about the Limbo..

you say you wish you were born a girl well i was just with a defect
This post was edited by rebecca ramone at May 12, 2012 7:50 AM BST

Maybe I am unique on this site...but I don't really think so. I happen to think that lots of girls do not want to transition - they just enjoy dressing.

I have no desire whatsoever to transition or live full time as a woman...I am happy being an "in-betweenie". And by the way since I have been active as Pauline - +15 years I never ever wanted to transition. Now I am too old for surgery - even if I wanted to go that route.

Was it easy to get where I am now? No it was not.

It cost me my marriage and a lot of intensive therapy - the latter was my choice. It has been tough - as I tried to work out my sexuality and handle the other changes in my tastes. But that was only a part of my journey, which is still ongoing.

Do I think people who transition are mad or deluded?

No.

I had very close friends in Holland who have transitioned, and have known people here who have or are in the process of change their gender. My observation - most of them are focused on their own journey to the exclusion of almost anyone else, or anything else. And after they transition they move away from sites like this....because they have moved on with their own journey(s). Is that wrong ...no...its human nature.

So how do I manage my life? I like being a dad, son and brother - and when I have work working as a man. I enjoy being Pauline - dressing when I want, going out - shopping or to places like the Village. Pauline enjoys the company of men and other Tgirls...for many reasons.

Am I happy - yes; am I lucky - who knows? I do try to see how wonderful life is and try to help others in the TG community on their journeys.

I do though disagree with my Dutch Tgirl friends who used to tell me that cross dressing is a hobby. Its much more than that. Being transgendered has lots of angst and pain - but I don't rail against it I try to adapt the way that i live so that I am happy. When you realize that you love yourself - warts and all - then you can be happy, or happier.

Is my solution one that works for everyone. No of course not. But neither is transition. Transition is something that requires lots of changes and painful surgery...and no guarantees that you will be any happier afterwards. Maybe my way is a half way house solution....a compromise that can work for many Tgirls who are in a loving relationship with a woman.

There are many roads through life...just like there are many Gods and Godesses.

Pauline xxxx
This post was edited by Pauline Smith at May 12, 2012 10:32 PM BST

As usual Pauline sorts out a fab answer. I mean that, if you cant sort yourself , turn to that answer and I think you will work it out yourself...Thanks Pauline xxxxxxx

Thank you Pauline for voicing the answer I have been struggling with since reading the first post.

See what I mean, Josephine struggled to answer, pauline did it for her on this site..but how about at home???? When the questions hit you in the face,,face to face, noone to answer for you then !!! April xx

hi april, nice forum post and very interesting to read... anniemarie xxx

My struggle is/has been whether there is a half way point and how I felt about 'going the whole way'. I can't see me being able to go the whole way but had not heard from others which had reached that happy medium. I have other difficulties just at present but if I know where I'm going then I can start articulating them better.
I do know of those who wish to go the whole way and for most of them putting yet another round of 'Have you thought about this?' would be wasteful. Equally I would hate to see them denied the surgery which they look so eagerly upon.

quick reply , " i love being a TGirl " , yes i dont like having a bulge in my tight dresses and yes its gonna be a pain in a bikini , but these things are surmountable , i dont like that thing but then i have no overwhelming need to have it removed and if i did it would only be for cosmetic purposes ! , yes im transitioning to full time TGirl soon , thats who i am ! ( oh by the way it could cause all manner of legal issues , i am married to a woman and at the moment i believe that its still not been legalised to have 2 women married so we would have to divorce and seek a legal partnership ) thats something that i would not put Sue through , , also shes female , she likes it ! xxxx