Constructive and well-written post by Hank with some valid points. Valid but I do not agree with all of them.
The thing that bothers me is that regular women can get vaginoplasties no questions asked, cash or creditcard? Coz they think their labia don't look like a pornstar's(photoshop anyone?). Castration for men is a tad harder but the hard part can be finding the doctor, but there's no big ruleset around it. Then consider stuff like facial plastic surgery or boobjobs.
I am pretty sure giving a t-girl the SRS she wants will produce 10 times the emotional happiness of someone getting her boobs filled a bit. But then why do they make it so bloody hard for us? I mean sure it is a hard decision, but it's
our lives, we are mature well-thinking human beings, most of us tend to be reasonably intelligent too. Why all the hoops to jump through? I feel like a circus tiger with the way the Genderteam in my country treats me. They're very nice people though, they're just very strict.
I've heard of a transwoman who was 40 years old, had her own company, complete with employees, good reputation in the trade, successful person, profesionally. Imagine how humiliating it must've been to suddenly be treated like a child, having to prove that you want something, that you think clearly, explain yourself to some kind of jury. Suddenly you're not the adult anymore.
I think they should relax the rules a bit, period. If people make a wrong decision, then that's their own mistake. We can all make mistakes in our daily lives, and
many of them are just as big as getting SRS.
A thing I do want to say, is that it's amazing how respectful some guys on this forum are. That's something that's completely new to me. I don't mean that offensively, on the contrary, it really gives me hope and faith in the future.
Kim