TS/TV/CD Love Blog - Because Of Your Uniqueness

Last month Cuba authorized sex-change operations and will offer them free for qualifying citizens. The move is the latest in a series of changes implemented by President Raul Castro since he succeeded his elder brother, Fidel, in February. Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela, heads Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education, which strongly backs the new policy. The procedure would be available to Cubans for free as part of their country’s health-care system.

As you know, for many transgender people, the process of transitioning is a long and expensive journey delayed due to the lack of health insurance coverage for medically necessary procedures. There is a disturbing health care crisis for thetransgendered

After coming out, transgender people may undergo psychological counseling for diagnosis, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to adjust their body to their new gender, medical visits to support that therapy, and sex reassignment surgery (SRS) to change their genitals to match their new gender role. Through sex reassignment surgery, transgender women may undergo a penectomy and vaginaplasty. Transgender men may undergo bilateral mastectomy and hysterectomy and, in some cases, they may also elect phalloplasty (construction of a penis).

These procedures cost thousands of dollars and they are not optional for many transgender people. Most states require medical procedures before personal documentation, like drivers licenses and birth certificates, can be updated to reflect a person’s new gender. But, despite those requirements, many insurance policies do not cover sex reassignment surgery, which is often considered cosmetic or not medically necessary. Thus transgender people must pay thousands of dollars out of pocket even if they have health insurance coverage that would cover the surgical procedure for a medically recognized condition.

Please take a few minutes to read the great article on RH Realty Check and written by Pamela Merritt. If you’re like me - you end up fraaking mad about the whole damn thing.

Technorati Tags: Cuba, sex-change, transgender, transitioning, transgendered, sex reassignment

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