Wait, What?

I didn’t know that Gender Affirmation Surgery was being done in Connecticut. I knew that there was a doctor doing Gender Confirming Surgery* but he stopped doing them but now according to this ad they are being done again in Connecticut.

Why He Came From London for Gender Affirmation Surgery
Hartford Healthcare
March 7, 2022


[…]

The transatlantic journey was necessary after Lavery learned the United Kingdom public health system had a six-year waiting list, just for an initial consultation for gender affirmation surgery. Even then, people have no choice in the provider they’re assigned.

“That sent me on a research trip around the world,” Lavery said while recuperating from surgery in Connecticut before flying home to London. “The reputation of the United States is that medication is expensive and the system is difficult to navigate, which I haven’t found to be the case.”

Apart from getting a top-notch surgeon, the most important thing for him was the connection with the provider. He wanted someone to treat him like a person.

“I believe you’re a person long before you’re a gender,” he said simply.

His research brought him to Dr. Laurel Chandler, a plastic surgeon in Darien. She performed a bilateral double mastectomy to remove breast tissue. Genital reconstruction, Lavery said, will come eventually.

Who?

I never heard of her so I googled her and I found…

Gender Affirming Top Surgery Performed by Fairfield County Plastic Surgeon Dr. Laurel Chandler

Dr. Chandler performs gender affirmation top surgery for female to male or transmasculine patients, male to female or transfeminine patients and nonbinary/gender neutral patients, and facial feminization surgery. She follows WPATH guidelines in screening patients regarding suitability for surgery and uses an informed consent model, and she is a member of WPATH.

Ah… she only does top surgeries, no bottom.

That made me feel better because the grapevine was right there are no bottom surgeons here in Connecticut. So the Hartford Hospital’s ad is a little misleading.

*I like Gender Confirming Surgery than Gender Affirmation Surgery because I like the initials better for Gender Confirming Surgery than Gender Affirmation Surgery because I don’t want GAS.