Two Weeks
“Someone remarked that they thought this was a picture of twins. I suppose it is. My twin selves. Before and after. Incomplete and complete. Broken and healed. Prisoner of shame and secrecy, liberated woman, free and strong. I will always be me. The chrysalis changes, emerges, spreads her wet and rumpled wings. Takes flight into […]…
Bag of Blood
“Not long after the operation…My vulva is still bruised and swollen though healing well. I am happier, more complete than I have ever been in my whole life. What have I got in the bag? The blood of surgery? Or the blood and tears of a life lived long in fear and shame? The blood […]…
Asleep
“Isn’t this a fairytale picture – I love it! For many transsexual women loneliness and rejection are real killers. It’s so hard for her to find a lover or a partner who can be comfortable with her condition. Alex is one extraordinary guy. I’m one lucky gal!” – Paula Kaye 2003…
Birth Certificate
“All the states of Australia allow for a transsexual person who has undergone the stipulated requirements of transition and surgery to have their birth certificates changed to the sex of their core identity. It’s about extending basic human rights to everyone. It’s about tolerance and respect and compassion. It’s about fundamental human values – beyond […]…
Dilation 1
“After surgery, as my vagina heals, its tendency is to shrink and close up. Vaginal dilators are used by women who have inadequately formed or surgically reconstructed vaginas to ensure sufficient circumference and depth for sexual intercourse. They range in size up to 6 1/2 inches in length and 1 1/2 inches diameter. The dilator […]…
Finished
“All done! All bandaged up, fixed up! The operation was done on a Monday. On Wednesday the surgeon will remove my bandages. Early on Friday morning he will remove my catheter and the metres and metres of gauze that pack out my vagina. I will have my first vaginal dilation. Later that afternoon, with everything […]…
Crossword Puzzel
“This image tickles Belinda’s fancy. Me too! There’s the nurse doing her crossword…and the TV camera. Meanwhile, I’m there, somewhere, in the background, undergoing something momentous, enormous. Hey! Guys! Remember me?” – Paula Kaye 2004…
Touch
“Under a spinal block, behind my screen, I feel nothing. Drifting in and out of a dream-like consciousness I hear the surgeon discussing serious scalpel stuff. Yikes! That’s major surgery going on there! I wonder why I don’t feel it. Perhaps in a passing moment of apparent distress, my anaesthetist cradles my head, tenderly. ‘Are […]…
Mash
“MASH 101 Outside it begins to hail. Inside, within the seeming vast garage-like interior of the operating theatre I lie dreaming amidst the choreographed motion of the surgical team going through their paces smoothly, with professional ease. I am surrounded with all the techno-clutter of modern surgery: monitors and crash carts…lights, cameras… and ackshunnn!” – […]…
Birth
“Putting the pieces back – in the right way this time. Ill-informed critics pursuing their own agendas talk of “amputation” and “fake vaginas”. Wrong! Very wrong! Nothing is “cut off”, only some tissue is removed; nothing is artificial. It all works; it’s all me. The tissue of the penis and scrotum are peeled back and […]…