trans what? – Weary Wretch

7/2017

These subjects are so prevalent in the media these days that I cannot, without a collapse of conscious, ignore them.

It seems that uterus transplants are a reality now. (1)

So this Doc in Stockholm, or thereabouts, has had five babies delivered to women that have had uterus (womb) transplants. Seems that my Alma mater has successfully transplanted a uterus, but that woman hasn’t chosen to become pregnant, yet.

So, and you’ll just have to believe me on this, Arnold was right. Men maybe can have babies. They just need a uterus transplant, some supplemental estrogen and progesterone and a lot of help from friends. And I promise, someone will try it.

But the complexities don’t end there. Consider the problems in Houston and elsewhere, with gender-neutral public restrooms. Now it’s not only gender determinant. What I mean is, the individual can choose which gender they identify with and which pronoun they prefer to have used to address them (choices in English are he, she and it for individuals). And, the pronoun can be indeterminate. (2)

Why am I confused by all this?

Because, when a patient comes to me that has, say abdominal pain, it is routine to get a pregnancy test if they could possibly be pregnant. My therapeutic options are affected if they are or are not pregnant. But, if I order a pregnancy test on a male, the computer rejects it and informs me that I’m stupid because males can’t get pregnant. And if I order a pregnancy test on a patient that seems too old, the computer rejects it. With appropriate hormonal manipulation, males may be able to have babies in their transplanted uteri at a much later age than females with a native uterus.

So what do I do? Base my suppositions and investigatory skills on the name, the pronoun of address or the physical exam? Any and all can be misleading.

From your confused and grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.

Weary.

Trans What? The original Trans What? post.

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Trans What? Part 2