Monday, January 27, 2014

What Is Involved In Transgender Health Services

By Marissa Velazquez


It is not a strange phenomenon that some people who were born male feel like they should be female while the others who were born female feel like they were meant to be males. This has brought about substantial debate on how to handle this class of people with regard to gender. With their ever-growing numbers, the society is compelled to accommodate them and provide to them the essential services too. This has even necessitated for the provision of transgender health services. Here are some therapeutic measures employed to attain the desired body for a male transforming to a woman.

We know that the male body is made differently from a female body since they were each designed to perform different roles. Therefore, a man seeking the woman body commonly known as a transwoman has to go through a process where hormones are replaced. This process requires a competent expert since it can lead to adverse effects if not handled properly. The hormone replacement therapy is used to alter the secondary sexual characteristics.

Estrogen and testosterone are two hormones that bring the distinction between a male and a female. Men have higher levels of testosterone than females. Women on the other hand have higher levels of estrogen than their male counterparts. So a man wanting to transform into a woman will undergo a treatment aimed at increasing the levels of estrogen so as to have almost same quantity as those in an individual born a female. This hormone brings out most of the feminine characteristics such as menstrual cycle, moods and libido.

Progesterone is another important hormone. This is an important substance in a woman responsible for the skin texture and also affects the urge of sex. This should be given to transwomen to enable them develop breasts. Such development will take care of the mammary glands and the alveoli just to name a few. Other than the surgical procedures, this method has proved an effective option.

To be able to deal with the hormone testosterone, anti-androgens are introduced. This is important to suppress the testosterone especially before the client can go for a surgery for sexual reassignment and still has his testicles. The introduced anti- androgen does not stop the production of the unwanted hormone, but it is rendered weak to enable the estrogen to bind with the androgen receptors in its place.

It is good to know that hormone replacement therapy cannot reverse the changes experienced by an individual during puberty. For instance, the location of body hair will require another procedure to deal with. This will diminish slowly over time with the falling levels of testosterone in the body. There are many other changes like the bone size and length which reaches the DNA predestined size at puberty.

Many people are usually taken through this therapy, however to completely alter the sexual orientation a surgical process is mandatory. This is usually done to replace the sexual organ with that of the desired gender. The sensitivity of the procedure calls for experience of the medical practitioner to ensure the functioning of the organs.

In conclusion you will agree that this is a change one has to face, whether it is a family member or not good transgender health services are needed. Failure to that would lead them into seeking healthcare support from non-qualified people who might end up ruining their lives. Good news is that there are also herbal remedies for such purposes.




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