Testicles Removal Of Underage Prohibited

[george]

Testicles removal of underage prohibited

BANGKOK: -- Surgical removal of testicles will be prohibited starting Wednesday, after a Public Health Ministry committee forbade the practice Tuesday.

Government or private clinics that breached the condition face indefinite closure, or have their license revoked permanently.

The ministry is seeking a legal interpretation whether removal of testicles was a criminal offence, in spite of consent given by young gay men who seek to have their organs removed. A Criminal Code article states that deprivation of one's reproducing ability is deemed causing serious injuries and therefore a felony.

-- The Nation 2008-04-01

[Jewelz]

I'm a qualified "legal interpreter". Can interpret sarcasm into any language!

[LaoPo]

Testicles removal of underage prohibited

BANGKOK: -- Surgical removal of testicles will be prohibited starting Wednesday, after a Public Health Ministry committee forbade the practice Tuesday.

Government or private clinics that breached the condition face indefinite closure, or have their license revoked permanently.

The ministry is seeking a legal interpretation whether removal of testicles was a criminal offence, in spite of consent given by young gay men who seek to have their organs removed. A Criminal Code article states that deprivation of one's reproducing ability is deemed causing serious injuries and therefore a felony.

-- The Nation 2008-04-01

An odd description in a Nation where Transsexuals are widely accepted. That it is prohibited for under aged is good as it is a long process to determine whether some one is transsexual or not and help is needed in that process.

LaoPo

[mike_rad]

A friend teaches English to, among others, Thai doctors. One doctor told him that he has been approached by Thai boys as young as 10 or 11, wanting to go on female hormones. There appears to be a belief that, for someone wanting this kind of sex change, it's better to start the hormone treatment well before puberty to reduce more effectively the male appearance.

The doctor said he refused to prescribe them but also realized that they would probably just get them from somewhere else.

----

[LaoPo]

A friend teaches English to, among others, Thai doctors. One doctor told him that he has been approached by Thai boys as young as 10 or 11, wanting to go on female hormones. There appears to be a belief that, for someone wanting this kind of sex change, it's better to start the hormone treatment well before puberty to reduce more effectively the male appearance.

The doctor said he refused to prescribe them but also realized that they would probably just get them from somewhere else.

----

The doctor was right; the belief you're talking about is not prove; just talk.

Thai boys of 10/11...approaching (a) Doctor(s) wanting to go on female hormones..themselves....? Hmmmm..hard to believe.

10/11 year old boys do not even know what hormones are, let alone if they already know that they want to be transsexual/katoey.

Very hard to believe.

LaoPo

[Ijustwannateach]

Sadly, not so hard for me to believe. I have been told by students whose parents are doctors that they have been placed on various questionable hormone therapies to "increase their growth," even in early adolescence. God knows what it will do to them.

"S"

[LaoPo]

Sadly, not so hard for me to believe. I have been told by students whose parents are doctors that they have been placed on various questionable hormone therapies to "increase their growth," even in early adolescence. God knows what it will do to them.

"S"

Nice parents......nice doctors.....weirdos, if they place their kids on hormone therapies

A bloody scandal.

LaoPo

[geriatrickid]

Unfortunately, as there has been discussion of this practice prior to April Fool's Day, although no evidence presented that it was being undertaken, it is not a prank.

So much for the implicated physicians understanding the concept of Primum non nocere "First, do no harm". Everyone in health sciences is taught this principle. One is obliged to consider the possible harm that any action may cause. Essentially, a requirement to consider a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed treatment or procedure. Cripes, even I had to sit through the course in ethics. I wonder if noted pathologist Auguste Chomel who this concept is attributed to is spinning in his grave? I also wonder what Dr. Morris Fishbein, the late noted educator and editor of JAMA and modern era promoter of the concept would say about these happy slashing scalpel profiteers? Perhaps he'd say they are devoid of any and all sense of moral obligation and duty

[BigSnake]

What will be the age, 18 or 21. Now I think it's 18. This can be a tough call at any age, the young men should be offer the best counseling free of charge, by the power that be.

[peter991]

Amazing Thailand. It never ceases to amaze me. How does the Public Health Ministry expect doctors to treat testicular cancer in men?

Testicular cancer forms in a man's testicles, the two egg-shaped glands that produce sperm and testosterone. Testicular cancer mainly affects young men between the ages of 20 and 39. It is also more common in men who:

Have had abnormal testicle development

Have had an undescended testicle

Have a family history of the cancer

Symptoms include pain, swelling or lumps in your testicles or groin area. Most cases can be treated, especially if it is found early. Treatment options include surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy.

Peter

[geriatrickid]

The intent is to prevent qick cosmetic procedures, not intefere in the treatment of testicular cancer. At a typical incidence of cancer of 3 per 100,000 males of which almost all are over the age of 21, I think the likelihood of a dispute is remote. As well, since the cancer is usually restricted to one testicle in 98% of males, I think it would be pretty obvious that it was not an unwarranted procedure. I don't think too many folks are going to experiment with removing a teste and leaving the other one. There will be exceptions for those rare cases where there is a need for sex assignment surgery. Many patients present thinking that a sex change will make their lives better when the root causes of the desire have not been addressed. It requires counseling first to ensure that the patient understands what he (or she) is about to do and to also ensure that the patient is prepared for the change. no doubt there are some people that benefit, but that's why the protocols in the west require screening and a great deal of time spent in counseling before the surgery. Way too many general procedures for money in Thailand, but that's a different discussion.

[Scott]

I wonder how many other countries have this problem--at least to the point where they have to pass a law!

[Blinky Bill]

They could always ring themselves like we used to do with lambs on the farm. A couple of wraps of rubber bands would do the trick.

[astral]

Men who have had their testicles removed are know as Eunuchs.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch

More historical view is show here.

http://i-cias.com/e.o/eunuch.htm

Here is an interesting modern day perspective from the UK.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/health/article2415448.ece

[LaoPo]

Cosmetic castration banned

Wed Apr 2, 2008 11:12am EDT

Members of a Thai ladyboy band walk to a performance in Bangkok February 7, 2007.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's health chiefs barred hospitals and clinics on Wednesday from castrating would-be "ladyboys" amid growing concern about the operation being seen as a cheap and quick alternative to a full sex-change.

In a letter to 16,000 private health units, the Public Health Ministry said doctors performing the operation outside formal sex-change therapy -- which requires rigorous physical and mental evaluation of the patient -- faced up to six months in jail.

However, senior health official Tara Chinakarn admitted that policing the temporary ban might be difficult as cosmetic removal of the testicles was such a quick operation and easy to conduct in secret.

"It's hard to track them down as it takes only 15-20 minutes to have the surgery," Tara told Reuters.

Thailand is home to a large number of "ladyboys," or "katoey" in Thai, a term that covers anything from a transvestite to a man who has undergone a full sex change.

The tolerance shown towards the "third sex," as it is often referred to, has led to the country becoming a world leader in sex-change surgery.

However, at the lower end of the market, clinics have responded to demand from teenage boys to look more like girls by posting Internet advertisements offering castration for as little as 4,000 baht ($125).

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSBKK32992720080402

LaoPo

[Blinky Bill]

Elastorator Banding Pliers

Used to expand the elastic "O" rings enough to allow them to slide over the tail or scrotum (including testicles) and then released at the desired point. The ring steadily squeezes shut all arteries supplying area with blood, they drop off in about 10-20 days.

[LaoPo]

Since we're talking about men wishing to become women, this woman wished to become a man:

Pregnant man tells Oprah: It's a miracle

Thu Apr 3, 2008 2:58pm EDT

By Michael Conlon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A transgender man who is six months pregnant said in an interview aired by Oprah Winfrey on Thursday that he always wanted to have a child and considers it a miracle.

"It's not a male or female desire to have a child. It's a human desire," a thinly bearded Thomas Beatie said. "I have a very stable male identity," he added, saying that pregnancy neither defines him nor makes him feel feminine.

Beatie, 34, who lives in Oregon, was born a woman but decided to become a man 10 years ago. He began taking testosterone treatments and had breast surgery to remove glands and flatten his chest.

"I opted not to do anything with my reproductive organs because I wanted to have a child one day," he told the talk show host. Beatie's wife Nancy said she inseminated him with a syringe using sperm purchased from a bank.

Now, he said, his size 32 jeans are getting a bit tight and his shirts are a bit stretched.

Nancy, to whom he has been married for five years and who has two grown daughters by a previous marriage, also appeared on the show, saying the couple's roles will not change once the baby is born.

"He's going to be the father and I'm going to be the mother," she said. Their marriage is legal and he is recognized under state law as a man.

The couple was shown on video provided by People Magazine, which collaborated with Winfrey on the show, showing the room that will be the baby's nursery. Beatie said the little girl was going to be "daddy's little princess."

The couple was also filmed in their hometown of Bend, Oregon, where he underwent an ultrasound showing the baby in his womb.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe she's inside me," Beatie said while watching the ultrasound image. "We see her as our little miracle."

His obstetrician, Dr. Kimberly James, who practices in the Oregon town, told Winfrey, "This is a normal pregnancy."

She said Beatie stopped taking testosterone two years ago and his levels of the hormone are normal.

"This baby is totally healthy," she said. "This is what I consider a normal pregnancy."

The couple said they had been turned down by a number of other doctors before James agreed to take him as a patient.

The couple said an earlier attempt at pregnancy failed when he developed a tubal pregnancy, resulting in surgery that removed his Fallopian tubes.

The couple said they decided to go public with the pregnancy because they wanted to control the way the news got out. "We're just going to have the baby now," Nancy said. "If we have to, we'll go hide."

The couple runs a small business in Bend and has some savings, she said. In addition, Beatie is working on a book about his childhood, his mother's suicide and his life growing in Hawaii where, as a girl, he was a teen beauty pageant contestant and earned a martial arts black belt.

Winfrey called the development "a new definition of what diversity means for everybody."

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idU...oon&sp=true

Rather confusing so to speak

LaoPo

[Blinky Bill]

If you reckon that's confusing how confused will the child be growing up?

[barky]

Many of the Thai "men" I encounter seem to have been born without balls. Mollycoddled and breast fed from cradle to grave.