Legalities of Gender, Part II

Last Wednesday morning, I had my first post-op appointment with Dr Harte. And really, it felt more like a "welcome back" than a therapy session: he asked how things went, whether I was back at work (I'm not), and whether I was experiencing any post-op depression (I don't think I am), and gave me a couple of questionnaires to fill out regarding my mood and experiences post-op. He also asked if there were any aspects to the Monash gender clinic's processes that I felt could be improved; I replied that it had mostly gone well except that I wasn't so sure about Dr Kennedy's suitability, to which he kind of gravely nodded and acknowledged that others share the same concerns.

Dr Harte also asked if I'd be willing to speak with some of his students for one session, as he felt I'd be representative of a down-to-earth individual who'd been through a successful transition rather than a "crazy". I told him I'd have no problems with that; after all, it's in line with my own feelings on how to spread awareness without looking like a lunatic.

In turn, I had him fill out his half of the Application for Alteration of Sex in Birth Register or a Recognised Details Certificate form. In my case, this is for the recognised details cert, as my birth certificate is Malaysian. The application requires two medical practitioners to verify that you've been through SRS (or possibly at least an orchiectomy; I'm not sure where Victoria stands in that regard), and two other medical practitioners to witness for them. As it turns out, the second half of the application was filled in by a visit to a GP on Friday morning. In both cases, the formal letters from Dr Suporn were sufficient as evidence of SRS.

I just have to mail this all in with the requisite proof of identity, wait around for them to process the application, and the Australian government will finally acknowledge me as female!

(And then I get to do the wonderful task of chasing down all my accounts at various organisations to have my details fixed...)