Irritated or Amused?

[kathygnome]

I can't decide if I'm irritated by this or just amused at the ludicrousness of it, but my Medical Certification from Dr. Chettawut is not acceptable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. No, it's not that it was from Thailand or that it wasn't notarized, that's fine.

It doesn't state that the surgery is completed. Mind you it does say that the surgery consisted of "penectomy (removal of penis shaft), bilateral orchidectomy (removal of testes), vaginal opening reconstruction, urethral opening reconstruction, outer labia construction, sensate clitoral hood & neo-clitoris construction, and inverted penile vaginoplasty" but it doesn't say it's completed. Perhaps I'm laying on the table right now? I mean, how could it not be completed given the details.

In any case, I've written to poor Dr. Chettawut begging for a new letter. At least that will let me keep the originals, which the state takes.

The entire letter that was rejected is below.

------------------

To Whom It May concern

Ms. Kathleen Louise Lambert, born December 17, 1965 as a male child, has been diagnosed by a team of medical professional with gender identity disorder.

On May 19, 2005, I performed sex reassignment surgery (male to female SRS) for this patient at Vibha-ram hospital, Bangkok, Thailand.

The surgery was consisted of penectomy (removal of penis shaft), bilateral orchidectomy (removal of testes), vaginal opening reconstruction, urethral opening reconstruction, outer labia construction, sensate clitoral hood & neo-clitoris construction, and inverted penile vaginoplasty.

The breast augmentation surgery with 450cc textured surface, cohesive gel implants, and the abdomianl skin graft for neovaginal lining were done as additional procedures.

For medical and legal reasons, she is now an infertile female since her gender has been permanently changed to female because of sex reassignment surgery.

Her endorinology now is hypogonadal and will therefore require female sex hormones for her lifetime to remain healthy.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws that the foregoing is true and correct.

Comments

[persephoneplace.livejournal.com]

what part of perfomed is not completed?

phone a lawyer and get a lawyer to run intervention here.

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

He'll probably just send me a PDF of the letter.

[akasa.livejournal.com]

"she is now an infertile female since her gender has been permanently changed to female because of sex reassignment surgery."

That says completed to me.

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

But we're dealing with a bureaucracy. It has to have the word. You can't use your brain.

In RI my friend is having problems because they require a notarized letter from the surgeon who completed it. And Thailand has no notaries, so getting it notarized would mean the doctor spending an afternoon at the US embassy. A notarized letter from, say, a GYN, who's done an exam isn't enough. It has to be the surgeon who did it and be notarized.

In some other states, they require it to be someone who's licensed in the state and there are no SRS surgeons in the state.

[drosophila.livejournal.com]

how was the letter submitted?

I spoke to the people at the city where I was born and asked them what they needed and they never said I needed "completed" in there. I was just about to fly up to change my birth certificate (since they don't want to do it by mail), and I'd rather not have it rejected after all that work.

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

I've been corresponding with the Milford Town Clerk's office and they have been talking with the office of vital records. It has to clear both, working in local government, that's normal. The state has a million fingers in the local pie. I sent her the letter and she contacted vitals and faxed it to them, and they rejected it.

[drosophila.livejournal.com]

Ugh.. When I guess that means I need to get the letter with the magic word on it before I spend $300 to get back up north :-/

I guess it's better to know now though.

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

You shuld be able to do this by mail

[drosophila.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought. But the woman in Salem sounded really really confused, and didn't want to do it by mail. I still own my house up there, so it's not too horrible. Just annoying.

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I was also warned that I wouldn't get the letter back from the state. They keep it.

[drosophila.livejournal.com]

That's not really a Problem. I got 5 from Dr. Meltzer the first time. 5 More with the wording that the woman in Salem told me I needed, and I'll probably get 5 more with the word 'completed' on it.

I'm not going to be hurting for notorized letters after all of this! :-D

[drosophila.livejournal.com]

Of course the nurse I just spoke to didn't like the word completed, and couldn't understand why 'performed' wasn't good enough. Telling her Massachusetts bureaucracy didn't seem to help.

Hopefully it will be taken care of.

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

Oh duh, sorry, I sent her the letter as a PDF attached to an email for them to go over it before i drove to milford.

[radargrrl.livejournal.com]

It still seems funny to me that the military already considers me female, right down to uniform and clothing upkeep allowance. So I don't anticipate any problems there. But there seem to be pitfalls and tripwires in many other places that bureaucrats inhabit. Yours seems to be an extreme one, though.

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

Actually I've heard of the "completed" thing before, but usually on the federal level.

[poeticalpanther.livejournal.com]

Same letter he gave me, no surprise. Governments suck, often. :(

[kathygnome.livejournal.com]

I asked for another. The original is too pretty to give away anyway.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm speechless.

[novacheckers.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that was me. I get logged out from LJ a lot. >.

[admiralzeka.livejournal.com]

Wow it seemed pretty obvious to me that the surgery was completed. Someone is just purposely giving you a hard time.

[kelly-erin-m.livejournal.com]

I now do the dance of shame-faced regret over misspelling, and repost my comment.

*sigh* It is precisely this sort of bureaucratic idiocy that may end up making my SRS surgeon decision for me. I don't know if Bowers would be my first choice without the legalese concerns, but factoring them in, she seems like one of the safer bets.

[chirik.livejournal.com]

You're in California?

I think in California, any doctor can examine you and sign a letter saying you've had surgery. It doesn't even have to be the doctor that did the surgery, AFAIK.

[kelly-erin-m.livejournal.com]

Ah, but I was born in Illinois, and while I haven't researched it there, I've heard some things suggesting that they at least theoretically require that the surgeon be licensed to practice in the USA.

[chirik.livejournal.com]

No help there, then. I have no experience with Illinois. Good luck, whatever you do. Ultimately, you should probably go to the doctor you feel best with, even if they aren't approved by Illinois, but that's a personal decision, involving many factors.

[julierm.livejournal.com]

The bureaucracy in the states seems ridiculous, Dr Chettawuts letter is nice to have, but i don,t need to present it even when i apply for my GRC (gender recognition Certificate) and new birth Certificate next year.Things are a lot easier in th UK. I say hi when i see him next month.

State of Mass-

[(Anonymous)]

Kath: from what i've heard about massachusetts, i can believe your tale of frustration. Totally bureaucratic BS! I'd be tearing out my hair and frothing at the mouth.
BTW, your post about Chettawat on TG boards has convinced me that I'll be in thiland in 18 months with Barb.
Be well, we miss your posts on the boards.
Luv
Harriet
the jersey girl