title: [Concerns relating to care for transsexuals].
abstract: In the last decade, transsexual patients have increasingly sought sex reassignment (cross-sex hormones and sex reassignment surgery), whilst avoiding adequate diagnostic procedures. They ask non-specialized physicians to prescribe hormones or to perform sex reassignment surgery. Sometimes hormones are ordered through the Internet or obtained from other illegitimate sources. If these patients later turn to a specialized team (for instance for sex reassignment surgery), the obligatory standard diagnostic procedure is problematic: the patient does not accept having to go through a long period of assessment and objective decisionmaking, while the attending health professional feels pressured by the patient's impatience. Non-expert health professionals should draw patients' attention to the necessity of a thorough diagnostic procedure, thus avoiding wrong decisions and future regrets.
authors.affiliation: Vrije Universiteit Medisch Centrum, Genderteam, Postbus 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam.
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Cohen-Kettenis
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Gooren
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gijs
authors.forename: M J P F
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ritt
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Boenink
mesh_terms: D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006728:Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000592:standards; D014189:Transsexualism / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones