It is long past time to restart this thread. This topic will remain important and vital for the foreseeable future. I hope this thread does not wither away as quickly as it had before, but, if it does, I'll just restart it again

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Current medical updates (though some do come from prior posts here):
UK has, in at least one case, provided androgen blockers for an MtF boy at age 10 and provided by the NHS. That was in 2005, so I suspect that the program has been expanded since then.
Canada provides androgen and estrogen blocker for MtF and FtM children starting at age 12. I think though with puberty starting earlier now, that may be to late in some cases.
*** NEWS ***
Within the past month or so as I write this, a Doctor at The Children's Hospital in Boston has now chosen to specialize exclusively in Gender Diasphora (sp?) in children, and will prescribe androgen and estrogen blocker for MtF and FtM children starting at the age of 8.
He finds that most of his patients are brought in by parents that have come to realize that their child has an issue of this type. Few of the parents come in expecting him to have Johnny behave as a boy should, but why he'd rather be a girl, and vice-versa.
NOW, If we can get the Psychiatrists and Psychologists to recognize that a boy that wants to remain a boy (or just slightly less so, by two bits) does indeed fit the Gender Diasphora (sp?) model. And good luck in getting the DSM-IV updated. If anyone here knows what the procedures the are to get it corrected/updated, there many future boys out there that will be extremely grateful.
Age has been discussed heavily here about the correct age for the actual operation to be done. In Holland, it is elective at 16, and with parental consent, 14 (for Tim that was fine (15), for others, it might be a bit young, below 16). In the US, it still very much, even as adults to obtain, unless it is for SRS reasons, otherwise castration is only available through the few that will do a plain castration (i.e. Dr. Kimmel) without a full SRS consult, when in fact, SRS is not the desired outcome in any event.
I will reiterate what has been said in the past: any boy that spends months in serious consideration of this should be put on androgen blockers until he is old enough to make an informed decision. Of the boys that had the surgery prior to puberty (Alex had not hit puberty by age 14, by then he was ordering Androcur out of Canada, Tim had not at 15) all were satisfied by the outcome. Only a few boys give even a passing thought, for a boy to spend months considering, and broaching it with his parents, and getting their support, shows a level of wisdom that few adults seem to pocess.
Jay was (and remains so) throughly angry with father for not allowing the surgery to go forward. Now he keeps his body completely shaved to avoid one of the outcomes of puberty. To him, what still hurts the most is the loss of his voice. Of all of thing that can be reversed by castration, the change of voice cannot be.
There was one question that was asked but, I don't fully answered it:
The loss of erectile function in each of the boys...
During gestation, the differences in the hormone levels produced by the pituitary gland helps in determining the physical sex of fetus. During childhood, the pituitary gland produce small amount of testosterone or estrogen. This cause some release of testosterone and by the testes or overies.
When the testes are excised, only the amount produced by the pituitary gland remains, without the "amplification" produced by the testes. It is the drop in the already low level of testosterone that causes loss of erectile function. As time passes, it takes longer to achieve erection, and overall, just less satisfying. after a month or so, all desire to masterbate has disappeared.
One other observation: of all the the boys that I know that either wanted castration (Jay and myself) or were castrated, all of us are gay, and self-identified at an early age, age 6 for myself, all of the other before they were 10. I don't know what the overall corollation is, but I'd very interested in how many of those seeking castration during childhood were self-identified as gay at an early age.
All right all... start your engines... and again, lets keep it a civil discourse... we did quite well during the the last pass.
YC