Minimum Age for Castration?

[kristoff]

Copied from another post:

What is the minimum age someone should be before castration? Should there be any age requirements?

I'll start a new thread with these questions. Feel free to discuss it at length. It is good to talk about stuff like this.

K

[DeaconBlues (imported)]

Thank you Kristoff for starting this thread.

I think that for a transgender person the youngest age might be as low as 12, but that would be a very rare case, for example a clearly and independently confirmed case of a transgender (MtF) who is going to benefit from stopping the masculinization of puberty. I emphasize that this youngest age limit would probably be a rare case, and I emphasize that it should be for transgender cases.

Now as for non transgender cases, or possible transgender cases where psychological tests do not show a clear female personality, I think 18 years of age is the right number. I know, this number is much lower than anyone else here would say, but I seriously do believe that anyone who is 18 is old enough to know themselves. I MIGHT make a additional requirement for any male under 28, who wants castration, and that would be that they have deposited and frozen some sperm at a sperm bank somewhere. Just in case the unthinkable happened and they wanted to have their own children at some point in their future, but you know, honestly, I think that after a few years of castration being made available and affordable, our society would quit being so unreasonable and squeamish about it and I think the deposited sperm requirement could be dropped.

Additionally, I would require that anyone wanting surgical castration undergo a trial period of at least three months of chemical castration so that they would clearly know what they were going to get.

When one seriously takes into account the health benefits, weighs out the risks of some of the negative side effects (osteoporosis and such) I think that surgical castration is not at all a bad idea for many men. If I could I would make it a mandatory health service that would be available to any male over 18.

[Fixet (imported)]

Well transgender children, who have been diagnosed, should be on chemical blockers just on the moment there puberty hits.

Operation should be done on there 18e year.

(This is now the case in The Netherlands)

The non-transgender, well I would like to see the chemical route as well, the impact is not the very big, if you stop the blockers, you will go through puberty.

Operation little bit later, maybe 21 years.

If your already adult, a chemical blocker run for at least 1 year, maybe even longer, 3 month is way to short in my opinion.

[plix (imported)]

I'm not so sure that you can take any given age and say that this age is always going to be the appropriate minimum age for castration. My reasons for saying that are each person is different, and I really can't see how one specific age would apply in every case. Some people who are 10 are quite mature, and some people who are 40 still have maturing to do.

I think when you have someone who wants castration, rather than focusing on how old that someone is, a better course of action would be considering factors such as the reasons behind the desire for castration and the maturity of the individual who is asking for it. Transgender reasons might be given greater weight when someone is very young, but that doesn't mean I can't see a case when castration might be appropriate for a very young person who is not transgender.

Certainly the younger someone is when undergoing castration, the more concerned we become about whether the person will eventually regret their decision, but I can't bring myself to say that the damage that kind of regret might do is worse than the damage that might result from not providing castration to someone when it is truly appropriate.

[george2u2 (imported)]

As one of the geezers here, I am glad that today young people have so much more information than ever before.

There are organizations that can and do. help with these situations.

GLAAD, PFLAG, Gay Fathers, Pride centers,, the Trevor Project and more.

Even the Eunuch Archive. Thanks to the constant and loving good works of so many people here that don't want to see anybody hurt.

[tugon (imported)]

I remember the time in my life where I thought I should be a girl. Those feelings lasted from early to late teens. They may have begun earlier but initially I thought I was not very good as a boy. Sadly I had a number of family members reinforce my sense of failure. At the time I was not aware of eunuch as an option. Once I learned in my early 20's what being a eunuch would mean for my life it was the answer I had been seeking.

As someone who did not want to be female but also not male I would have liked to have been castrated between the age of 16-18. I would have liked my body to develop naturally since I have never had interest in HRT. I would not have wanted my body to be like the prepubescent eunuch. I am not sure there was any benefit for me to go through puberty other than physical development. Of course this many years later I am looking like a eunuch.

I think age would depend on final results agreed upon. Therapy is important as would be chemical castration trials. I am sure a good therapist would have saved me from transitioning to female if I had followed what I thought I needed. I am glad there are more resources available today. I was a eunuch for almost 7 years when I had access to my first computer and found the EA. Even though I had dealt with the physical changes and side effects members of the EA really helped me find my new place in the world.

[Wolf-Pup (imported)]

Being castrated before fully grown has its own set of problems. Not least of which is the bone growth doesn't shut off as it supposed to. Where a MTF child should be on blockers and eventually estrogen, I can't think its good from a future Eunuch to follow on that same path.

As for a minimum age, I would think in the range of 18-21 after a year or more of chemical castration first. I can't imagine there are many parents who would sign off on the procedure anyways. Puberty may be miserable for them, but it serves a purpose in terms of the body growing properly and I would also guess brain development.

[KewlDawg (imported)]

I'm not so sure that you can take any given age and say that this age is always going to be the appropriate minimum age for castration. My reasons for saying that are each person is different, and I really can't see how one specific age would apply in every case. Some people who are 10 are quite mature, and some people who are 40 still have maturing to do.

I think

that is very well said. I agree.

Wasn't it Thailand that had a problem of young teenage boys getting castrated, and had to pass a law establishing 18 as the minimum age?

Though, I have to add that over the years, and reading about guys "finally" getting castrated at 60, I have to wonder if they would have had a happier life if they were done when they were much younger.

Of the guys I know who are castrated, the one who was youngest had it done at 18, and would have had it done when they were 13 or 14 if he could have.

[erikboy (imported)]

I think it would be bad idea to set some restrictive age for castration. It wont help anyone. Instead gender problems should be dealt early on and help for transgender (wether M to F, F to M or M to E) children should be easily accessible, recognized. There is really no point for a law decide on such issues. Instead qualified medical personnel should do that. And that shouldn't mean that this medical personnel would try to talk out of gender change.

It is the fear and inconvenience of society over transgender issues if it wishes to set some age with the help of law.

I tend to think it is everyone pesonal issue, not society issue whether to get castrated or not.

[considering (imported)]

Surgery, however easily done-and an orchiectomy is easily done-carries some risks not the least of which are psychological. Based on my own experiences, I am against castration before it can be ascertained that the body has completed all growth cycles. For me, that was age 14, for others it could well be in their 30's. The reasons must also be a governing factor; MtF is a very different set of circumstances from either sex to eunuch. Both carry enormous psychological consequences that the individual will have to deal with. I am tempted to suggest that psychological counseling be part of the program, not to stop it but to make certain the person is prepared to go forward. (As the result of a fall I had the great toe on my left foot amputated. Surgeon who did it is a friend, knows how easily I withstand surgeries but went out of his way to point out-unbelieved at the time-that it wouold make a difference in my life. He had factored in that I have terminal MS and am already unsteady, this would heighten that.) There is no "right" minimum age and as with all things in these matters, I would hope that no laws are promulgated to govern this. Although it's rare, young men who have just entered puberty can and do contract testicular cancer for which a bilateral orchiectomy is the cure. This is a scenario with very grave consequences and needs the most careful of examinations in many fields. No one could-or did-say I was too young when I was castrated in my mid 60s but many years later I will say it made more of a difference than I'd thought. Nothing serious, but I was acutely aware I felt "different".

Then there's the problem of who is making the decision about what will happen. Just wanting the procedure isn't sufficient reason to have it done. The young can think an amazing variety of things would be a "good idea" or, more frighteningly, "neat", when that is not the case. Could we say that there need to guidelines without having rules and regulations? But most importantly, there needs to be discussion and conversation (the two are not the same) that is open and free from criticism or decided opinion. To those who would never even consider this, it's a hard thing to even think about but to those who desire it, the reasons are clear and obvious. On two occasions I have had men, both well past 40, come to me for my advice and suggestions. The only one I will ever make is that if you decide to go forward, make sure it is done my a medical professional in an appropriate setting. To do otherwise is to take very grave risks.