cheetaking243 (imported) wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:55 pm
THE QUESTION (for the uncut):
So here's a serious question for everyone who truly believes that they want to either be castrated, penectomized, or have the opposite gender's genitals like me. I'm just asking out of curiosity: What is the number one concern that is holding you back from actually doing it?
1. Not sure if you really want it or not? Of course.
2. Financial? (can't afford it / don't want to spend that much money)
I can afford the co-pay if it's insured, but not a trip to Dr. Arnkoff ($5-6000 all-inclusive? Heck no!). Also, I'm dead set on an inguinal operation for my hypothetical operation, and Arknoff won't do them at all for love nor money, as far as I understand it. So, since cash-n-carry options are off the table, I've started working with a urologist who will consider it, if certain hoops are jumped through first.
cheetaking243 (imported) wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:55 pm
3. Afraid that you won't like it afterward, and will be stuck unhappy with it forever?
Yes, but perhaps not the way you'd think. It's more of a question #10 thing.
Actually? No. I'd perhaps be less afraid if I could get it done by a veterinarian, since an experienced vet has probably performed the operation upwards of ten thousand times. :p
cheetaking243 (imported) wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:55 pm
5. Afraid of after-effects? (things like tiredness, osteoperosis, and possibly having to take hormones afterward.)
I certainly don't want to do without steroid hormones once I'm fixed. I don't want feminization, but I probably would want to experiment with a steroid stack. It seems plausible that I could come up with something I like more than my natural testosterone level, though. (It's really quite low, but not low enough for my insurance company to pick up the bill for HRT) It's also possible that this steroid stack could include both estrogens and testosterone, or perhaps progesterones. (Bioidentical progesterone is apparently safe for unaltered males, and supposedly has health benefits, so I may experiment with that before. Also, it has the benefit that you don't need injections, which is nice
I don't want kids now, but someday I might. The availability of stem-cell sperm for artificial insemination would alleviate this source of hesitation entirely for me, as would replacement testicles. (DARPA is developing the technology to clone testicles for maimed soldiers, since IEDs have a bad habit of blowing people's testicles clean off. It's a crash program, with a ten-year timeline, so it should line up nicely with when I hypothetically might want children.
cheetaking243 (imported) wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:55 pm
)
7. Sexual concerns? (still want sex, afraid change would destroy that)
If anything, my finasteride trial increased my libido.
cheetaking243 (imported) wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:55 pm
8. Family concerns? (Afraid of what your family would think, and couldn't imagine explaining it to them.)
Yes - but it's more a question of whether my parents will eventually want grandkids and whether I'll feel differently about starting a family in the future, perhaps motivated by finding a long-term relationship.
cheetaking243 (imported) wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:55 pm
9. Social concerns? (Afraid of what others would think, don't want to be judged.)
Hell, if my concerns could be addressed, I'd not only be open about being neutered, I'd advocate for the availability of elective castration on short notice - none of this years of therapy crap, just head down to the Planned Parenthood that does vasectomies. Perhaps enforce a 7-day cooling off period, if only to provide political cover and prevent people with regrets from saying "You didn't even try to warn me!" to the news media, in order to preserve that hard-won easy availability.
I don't think the ideal surgery's available yet. Instead of a scrotal ablation, I'd like to pursue the smooth look by using remaining scrotal skin to craft a penile sheath - think of a dog, or perhaps more likely, a horse. I'd like to be able to pee standing up, so being able to evert it without an erection is important. Nothing flapping in the breeze that way, without having to go full nullo! I'm aware that you'd have to be pretty fastidious about washing it, but that's a price I'd eagerly pay.
Still, I want to do the right thing, for the right reason, at the right time. That's a high standard, and I'm only going to act once I'm confident I have all three of those figured ou.
cheetaking243 (imported) wrote: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:55 pm
11. None of the above. I'm doing it. All I need is a place to do it and the money to pay for it.
I'm not doing it yet, but I'm getting the prerequisites done ahead of time so if I ever make up my mind, I can act swiftly and decisively - once I make up my mind, I won't change it since I've been carefully considering this for years now. I may or may not decide to get fixed in the end, but if I do it's going to be pretty durn final, given how long I've been working on my concerns.