The 2011 Swedish study, of death records, comparing Swedes post surgeries to general population age-matched and income-matched Swedes also were deceased, did not report the increased rate of suicide in natal females post surgeries. Swedish women who had double mastectomies from 1973 to 2003 were 40 TIMES more likely to have ended their own lives, compared to Swedish female controls data. Dhejne, et al, at the Karolinska Institut, folded the natal male data with the natal female data to avoid this unpleasant reality the data revealed. Dr. Stephen B. Levine, formerly "affirming" psychiatrist, is the researcher (and expert witness) who got hold of the raw data and revealed this shocking cover up in the female data. Natal males in the post op group are merely 18-19 TIMES more likely to have ended their own lives. It cannot be logically claimed that "minority stress" is the cause for the higher rates of suicide. The recent Finnish study demonstrating significantly higher rates of inpatient psychiatric care post surgeries/hormones (European Psychiatry, 66 (1):1-20) is another records-based, statistically significant survey, which the researchers admitted had one big flaw--self ID prevented the actual biological sex from reliably appearing in the records. My comments on this latter study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxJhFbqL_KU&t=1s
Thank you for pointing this out Ute, many of the details in this post could warrant a full post on their own, so thank you for going into this details.
Feel free to come to my channel, Trans Widow Ute Heggen, to hear details on the more recent Scandinavian studies. Often, the researchers play little tricks to hide the results, which invariably demonstrate widespread medical malpractice. When Michael Shellenberger drops THE WPATH FILES, of leaked doctor emails, we should see some buzz. Feel free to contact me through my blog, uteheggengrasswidow.wordpress.com, contact form, if you wish more links. (small blog, small channel) I have a bit going on, with upcoming cataract surgeries, but will find time to copy and send links. I have a small volunteer team sending me these links. I see how unhappy my ex-husband is (1996 surgeries at Stanford Univ, after a foreshortened "protocol" period, and I still feel badly for him, despite his cruelty to me and his promotion of "affirmation.") I don't think you had this period of forcing yourself to support the cult, in order to justify what they've done to themselves. I've seen detransitioners though, who are not only recovering from their own physical problems, but also a deep guilt for the promotion of it. I'm permanently banned from X, so can't DM you.
I have a story of my own as a parent. And all I can say is that we did come out ok in the end, in part because I talked about my fears of medicalization and the permanent harm and my desire to protect my teen. I appreciate you calling the parents who gleefully affirm as suffering from munchausen by proxy - I think a parent has to be very unwell to respond by cheering rather than worrying about their child’s physical and emotional safety.
There is much other food for thought here in what you’ve written. I recently have started unsubscribing from some of the blogs I was following during my family’s situation, but will continue to follow yours as I really respect and appreciate your voice. It adds complexity and depth of understanding in a topic where clarity seems to often be lacking, so I just want to say thank you. And thank you for your original advice 1.5 years ago. I’m glad you told me I couldn’t convince my teen otherwise. It helped me lean in to focusing on love and protection without focusing on the issue that felt so terrifying.
This is such a profound read. It has definitely hit a nerve and my emotions are hard to reign in after being immersed in the content. Society really has opened a Pandora's Box. It's incredibly frightening.
I know, it really gets to me when people seem to have this blanket notion that once you're an 'adult' you have the freedom to do whatever you want to yourself 'live and live', 'body autonomy rules!'
Does that apply when young adults cut themselves? (who remembers that past epidemic?) And the epidemic of inhaling glue? Or injecting cocaine and heroin? Are these actions part of live and let live and body autonomy?
The truth is vulnerable adults exist and they are vulnerable for 101 reasons including mental health being deeply affected and 'impaired' during a particular time in life, adults with permanent special needs, adults on the autism spectrum, etc. whatever the case they lack sufficient capacity and are just as vulnerable as children. Their vulnerability and needs don't disappear just because they hit 18 years old. Sometimes the expected responsibility in attaining adulthood can make any pre-existing issues worse and spiral out of control due to anxiety and the perception in that vulnerable person's mind of what is expected of them.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, in a caring and compassionate society, we have to step in to stop people from harming themselves and harming others as a direct or indirect result of their vulnerability. That includes putting their decision-making authority on hold and making decisions in their best interests, on their behalf.
I remember one of the detransitioners, Shapeshifter, being very, very emotional and saying that he wishes that he had had someone to strongly 'save him from himself'. He said he was running away from himself and internalised homophobia, amongst other traumatic mental health issues. He thought the answer was being a trans 'woman'. He underwent castration and vaginoplasty and unfortunately it all went wrong. He is now living with the consequences of a decision made when he was a highly vulnerable adult, struggling with mental health issues. The psychiatry and medical professionals let him down so badly.
I am not an expert but I feel like whether adults are free to do as they wish is not even the point. The point is that doctors shouldn't be free to prescribe harmful medications and perform harmful surgeries. The point is that scientists should be held accountable for spreading factually incorrect information that makes people believe they should transition. If people believe that transition is the correct treatment, then of course they will demand it. Why wouldn't they? Heck, both adults and kids should have access to the right treatment. However, if people knew that it is not the right treatment, maybe they wouldn't be asking for it. (And if they weren't lied to that there is no other way to deal with dysphoria)
Totally agree. Medical ethics: just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Further, it's like a supply chain, everyone in the chain has a duty and responsibility to everyone else and ultimately the end customer (in this case the patient).
I think we are saying the same thing, just in a slightly different way. Just because a patient has adult autonomy over themselves doesn't mean that the medical profession should have the freedom and lack of responsibility to dispense harmful medication and harmful surgeries on request. By implementing medical ethics and restricting both the dispensing of harmful medications and harmful surgeries, 'automatically' restricts adult autonomy over one's own body and has the purpose of saving particularly vulnerable adults from their own faulty decision making. The decision is taken away from them ie the onus on them to self diagnose is removed from them and handed back to the medical specialist and supplies of harmful medications and surgical procedures is no longer automatically available on request by the patient, access is denied. Individual autonomy is restricted and/or denied in their best interests.
Excellent post. My brother was an early victim. He had surgery in 1974 in Trinity CO at the age of 25. I was 17. It was a different era and my parents were lost as to what to do. He had a bright future prior to getting entangled in the web. He was brilliant academically and won a full scholarship to a prestigious teacher’s college in Nashville (Peabody).
The fascination with trans begin, as best I remember, around 1970. He introduced his little sister (me) to drag shows and Christine Jorgenson’s story. After the surgery, he abandoned all other dreams. He lived on public assistance and drugs. Multiple health issues involving bladder and stomach led to more and more drugs. He died in a nursing home at the age of 68 in 2017. A life completely wasted. So sad.
Oh, I see! Got you. Thank you for clarifying. You put it so well. It is a web of lies and a tightly held on to alternative reality. I literally thought you meant entangled in the dark side of web-browsing. I was thinking, surely that wasn't a thing in the 70s/80s.
Oh no!😔 That was some deep, psychological compulsion he was dealing with. What a waste. What did you mean when you said he got 'entangled with the web'?
Ritchie, thank you for highlighting the view of sexologists on paraphilias. I agree, transition is not a healthy path, nor is it the best, for anyone having a paraphilia. Better would be learning how to live with it and NOT have it define you. That, and the medical interventions are harmful. Love to you. <3
Always grateful to you for telling us your story - you are shining a light for others to understand. How you frame the sexologists and queer theorists is brilliant. Both are not to be trusted. Peace and strength to you, Ritchie.
I enjoy reading your complex thoughts that are ever evolving on this slow motion plane crash in which so many of us have become social justice cheerleaders for strange science fiction “rights”. I find films by David Lynch that delve into the surgical and machine extremes of cultural redefinitions to be the most adept at showing our modern predilections. The human cost for such experiments of queer theory meeting surgical tools and hormones that change the shape of your vocal cords to match other bodies is more than imaginable. In talking with Richard A., your Californian counterpart, I wonder what resistance and survivor strengths will become. You and those who speak out and form new societies and alliances are a terrible and beautiful force. Thank you.
Here in the US it's the deep seeded sentiment left behind by the Eugenics movement that provides the apathy necessary to turn a blind eye to the harm. I have talked to many people in the medical community, and there is a sentiment that anyone stupid enough to demand such procedures deserves them. They totally know what's up but they feel like it's only the mentally ill getting such treatment which makes it fine cause at least we're "Trimming the tards". We even had a doctor get caught in California recently who was sterilizing (giving woman full hysterectomies) to female prisoners when they were coming in for other procedures and he flat out said it's because these woman shouldn't be allowed to reproduce because their children will be criminals. Go back and read the US Buck v Bell decisions from the Eugenics era, "Three generations of imbeciles is enough" is a sentiment that the professional managerial class hold dear to their hearts.
If you haven’t read ‘Defiant Birth’, by Melinda Tankard-Reist, I highly recommend it. It’s almost 2 decades old, but I haven’t come across more comprehensive research that balances personal anecdote with hard data. The Eugenics Era is very much alive.
I’m working through so many unread posts but had to stop and say Thank You for this one. You are one of about 10 people always coming to mind when I wonder if this fight is worth it when it takes so much out of us. I still hope my brother comes out of his waking delusion soon but posts like yours help me to understand how he got there and why he hasn’t left (yet). Adults are vulnerable; we don’t say that often enough. Xx
The 2011 Swedish study, of death records, comparing Swedes post surgeries to general population age-matched and income-matched Swedes also were deceased, did not report the increased rate of suicide in natal females post surgeries. Swedish women who had double mastectomies from 1973 to 2003 were 40 TIMES more likely to have ended their own lives, compared to Swedish female controls data. Dhejne, et al, at the Karolinska Institut, folded the natal male data with the natal female data to avoid this unpleasant reality the data revealed. Dr. Stephen B. Levine, formerly "affirming" psychiatrist, is the researcher (and expert witness) who got hold of the raw data and revealed this shocking cover up in the female data. Natal males in the post op group are merely 18-19 TIMES more likely to have ended their own lives. It cannot be logically claimed that "minority stress" is the cause for the higher rates of suicide. The recent Finnish study demonstrating significantly higher rates of inpatient psychiatric care post surgeries/hormones (European Psychiatry, 66 (1):1-20) is another records-based, statistically significant survey, which the researchers admitted had one big flaw--self ID prevented the actual biological sex from reliably appearing in the records. My comments on this latter study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxJhFbqL_KU&t=1s
Thank you for pointing this out Ute, many of the details in this post could warrant a full post on their own, so thank you for going into this details.
Feel free to come to my channel, Trans Widow Ute Heggen, to hear details on the more recent Scandinavian studies. Often, the researchers play little tricks to hide the results, which invariably demonstrate widespread medical malpractice. When Michael Shellenberger drops THE WPATH FILES, of leaked doctor emails, we should see some buzz. Feel free to contact me through my blog, uteheggengrasswidow.wordpress.com, contact form, if you wish more links. (small blog, small channel) I have a bit going on, with upcoming cataract surgeries, but will find time to copy and send links. I have a small volunteer team sending me these links. I see how unhappy my ex-husband is (1996 surgeries at Stanford Univ, after a foreshortened "protocol" period, and I still feel badly for him, despite his cruelty to me and his promotion of "affirmation.") I don't think you had this period of forcing yourself to support the cult, in order to justify what they've done to themselves. I've seen detransitioners though, who are not only recovering from their own physical problems, but also a deep guilt for the promotion of it. I'm permanently banned from X, so can't DM you.
2 things:
1] You are a very engaging and talented writer. This piece is excellent.
2] Congratulations on winning Man of the Year on Queens Speech! I was rooting for you.
Thank you!!! <3
I have a story of my own as a parent. And all I can say is that we did come out ok in the end, in part because I talked about my fears of medicalization and the permanent harm and my desire to protect my teen. I appreciate you calling the parents who gleefully affirm as suffering from munchausen by proxy - I think a parent has to be very unwell to respond by cheering rather than worrying about their child’s physical and emotional safety.
There is much other food for thought here in what you’ve written. I recently have started unsubscribing from some of the blogs I was following during my family’s situation, but will continue to follow yours as I really respect and appreciate your voice. It adds complexity and depth of understanding in a topic where clarity seems to often be lacking, so I just want to say thank you. And thank you for your original advice 1.5 years ago. I’m glad you told me I couldn’t convince my teen otherwise. It helped me lean in to focusing on love and protection without focusing on the issue that felt so terrifying.
I'm so glad to hear that, truly. Well done and thank you for being there as a parent.
Brilliant essay, Ritchie. Your clarity is a powerful antidote to the nonsense peddled by the predatory gender industry.
This is such a profound read. It has definitely hit a nerve and my emotions are hard to reign in after being immersed in the content. Society really has opened a Pandora's Box. It's incredibly frightening.
I know, it really gets to me when people seem to have this blanket notion that once you're an 'adult' you have the freedom to do whatever you want to yourself 'live and live', 'body autonomy rules!'
Does that apply when young adults cut themselves? (who remembers that past epidemic?) And the epidemic of inhaling glue? Or injecting cocaine and heroin? Are these actions part of live and let live and body autonomy?
The truth is vulnerable adults exist and they are vulnerable for 101 reasons including mental health being deeply affected and 'impaired' during a particular time in life, adults with permanent special needs, adults on the autism spectrum, etc. whatever the case they lack sufficient capacity and are just as vulnerable as children. Their vulnerability and needs don't disappear just because they hit 18 years old. Sometimes the expected responsibility in attaining adulthood can make any pre-existing issues worse and spiral out of control due to anxiety and the perception in that vulnerable person's mind of what is expected of them.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, in a caring and compassionate society, we have to step in to stop people from harming themselves and harming others as a direct or indirect result of their vulnerability. That includes putting their decision-making authority on hold and making decisions in their best interests, on their behalf.
I remember one of the detransitioners, Shapeshifter, being very, very emotional and saying that he wishes that he had had someone to strongly 'save him from himself'. He said he was running away from himself and internalised homophobia, amongst other traumatic mental health issues. He thought the answer was being a trans 'woman'. He underwent castration and vaginoplasty and unfortunately it all went wrong. He is now living with the consequences of a decision made when he was a highly vulnerable adult, struggling with mental health issues. The psychiatry and medical professionals let him down so badly.
Yes, my thoughts exactly! Bless Shape, hope he's doing okay.
Definitely! Hope you are too, Ritchie. You're doing a wonderful job. This is clearly your purpose.
I am not an expert but I feel like whether adults are free to do as they wish is not even the point. The point is that doctors shouldn't be free to prescribe harmful medications and perform harmful surgeries. The point is that scientists should be held accountable for spreading factually incorrect information that makes people believe they should transition. If people believe that transition is the correct treatment, then of course they will demand it. Why wouldn't they? Heck, both adults and kids should have access to the right treatment. However, if people knew that it is not the right treatment, maybe they wouldn't be asking for it. (And if they weren't lied to that there is no other way to deal with dysphoria)
Totally agree. Medical ethics: just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Further, it's like a supply chain, everyone in the chain has a duty and responsibility to everyone else and ultimately the end customer (in this case the patient).
I think we are saying the same thing, just in a slightly different way. Just because a patient has adult autonomy over themselves doesn't mean that the medical profession should have the freedom and lack of responsibility to dispense harmful medication and harmful surgeries on request. By implementing medical ethics and restricting both the dispensing of harmful medications and harmful surgeries, 'automatically' restricts adult autonomy over one's own body and has the purpose of saving particularly vulnerable adults from their own faulty decision making. The decision is taken away from them ie the onus on them to self diagnose is removed from them and handed back to the medical specialist and supplies of harmful medications and surgical procedures is no longer automatically available on request by the patient, access is denied. Individual autonomy is restricted and/or denied in their best interests.
Excellent post. My brother was an early victim. He had surgery in 1974 in Trinity CO at the age of 25. I was 17. It was a different era and my parents were lost as to what to do. He had a bright future prior to getting entangled in the web. He was brilliant academically and won a full scholarship to a prestigious teacher’s college in Nashville (Peabody).
The fascination with trans begin, as best I remember, around 1970. He introduced his little sister (me) to drag shows and Christine Jorgenson’s story. After the surgery, he abandoned all other dreams. He lived on public assistance and drugs. Multiple health issues involving bladder and stomach led to more and more drugs. He died in a nursing home at the age of 68 in 2017. A life completely wasted. So sad.
Oh my Tennessee, that sounds utterly horrible. I'm so sorry.
Thank you for sharing though, have you ever wrote about this? I think tales like this are worth telling.
I agree, and have considered writing about it. Thanks for the reminder 🙏🏻
That is so sad. Did he pass still living his life as a woman to the end?
Yes. To the bitter end. 😢
The web of lies that led him to believe he could truly become a woman.
Oh, I see! Got you. Thank you for clarifying. You put it so well. It is a web of lies and a tightly held on to alternative reality. I literally thought you meant entangled in the dark side of web-browsing. I was thinking, surely that wasn't a thing in the 70s/80s.
Oh no!😔 That was some deep, psychological compulsion he was dealing with. What a waste. What did you mean when you said he got 'entangled with the web'?
Ritchie, thank you for highlighting the view of sexologists on paraphilias. I agree, transition is not a healthy path, nor is it the best, for anyone having a paraphilia. Better would be learning how to live with it and NOT have it define you. That, and the medical interventions are harmful. Love to you. <3
Always grateful to you for telling us your story - you are shining a light for others to understand. How you frame the sexologists and queer theorists is brilliant. Both are not to be trusted. Peace and strength to you, Ritchie.
It's the professionals and politicians and those who enabled the lies and pushed out of the way and demonized those who tried to help you and others.
Exactly.
Thank you for your voice and vision!!❤️❤️❤️
I enjoy reading your complex thoughts that are ever evolving on this slow motion plane crash in which so many of us have become social justice cheerleaders for strange science fiction “rights”. I find films by David Lynch that delve into the surgical and machine extremes of cultural redefinitions to be the most adept at showing our modern predilections. The human cost for such experiments of queer theory meeting surgical tools and hormones that change the shape of your vocal cords to match other bodies is more than imaginable. In talking with Richard A., your Californian counterpart, I wonder what resistance and survivor strengths will become. You and those who speak out and form new societies and alliances are a terrible and beautiful force. Thank you.
Oh he's a sweetheart, i'm glad you got to meet him <3
Here in the US it's the deep seeded sentiment left behind by the Eugenics movement that provides the apathy necessary to turn a blind eye to the harm. I have talked to many people in the medical community, and there is a sentiment that anyone stupid enough to demand such procedures deserves them. They totally know what's up but they feel like it's only the mentally ill getting such treatment which makes it fine cause at least we're "Trimming the tards". We even had a doctor get caught in California recently who was sterilizing (giving woman full hysterectomies) to female prisoners when they were coming in for other procedures and he flat out said it's because these woman shouldn't be allowed to reproduce because their children will be criminals. Go back and read the US Buck v Bell decisions from the Eugenics era, "Three generations of imbeciles is enough" is a sentiment that the professional managerial class hold dear to their hearts.
If you haven’t read ‘Defiant Birth’, by Melinda Tankard-Reist, I highly recommend it. It’s almost 2 decades old, but I haven’t come across more comprehensive research that balances personal anecdote with hard data. The Eugenics Era is very much alive.
Wow!..utterly wow! These sentiments are coming from medical establishment people?!?
An excellent piece that should be shared on all available social media platforms.
I’m working through so many unread posts but had to stop and say Thank You for this one. You are one of about 10 people always coming to mind when I wonder if this fight is worth it when it takes so much out of us. I still hope my brother comes out of his waking delusion soon but posts like yours help me to understand how he got there and why he hasn’t left (yet). Adults are vulnerable; we don’t say that often enough. Xx
I love you Ritchie, your brilliant mind and soul.
Yes, this is your purpose and as a parent, I am so grateful for your courage. ❤️
This was an excellent paper. Well thought out, and well written.
And I agree with every point you raised, for the very same clear reasons you articulated so well.
You are helping many people, Ritchie. Thank you.