Parents seek halt to 48-year-old's gender reassignment

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MICHAEL R. SISAK

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A transgender woman whose parents went to court Wednesday to block her gender-reassignment surgery in Pennsylvania said she would rather die on the operating table than continue living with male anatomy.

Christine Kitzler, 48, said during a break in the emergency hearing that the risk factors her father raised — including complications from her HIV and Hepatitis C diagnoses — were worth enduring to have her body match the gender she's identified with since growing up in suburban Cleveland, Ohio.

The surgery, temporarily halted earlier this week by a suburban Philadelphia judge as he considers a longer stay, would also save her from backsliding into alcohol and drug addiction, Kitzler said.

Her parents, Klaus and Ingrid Kitzler, contend Kitzler is not competent to make an informed decision to have the surgery because of depression and a childhood learning disorder, and want a temporary guardian named.

FULL story at link.


Christine Kitzler, a transgender woman from Myrtle Beach, S.C., speaks with reporters, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, in Doylestown, Pa. A judge has temporarily blocked Kitzler's gender-reassignment surgery for, while he considers her parents' request she be declared incompetent. (AP Photo/Michael R. Sisak)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ecbfa49358664333af28407c2069317e/parents-seek-halt-48-year-olds-gender-reassignment

[Raster]

1. Sounds like the only issues Ms. Kitzler really have are Klaus and Ingrid.

[steve2470]

7. +1 nt

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

9. She's a fucking adult. The parents should have NO SAY in any of this.

[Raster]

10. Klaus wants a son he can go to church with.

[Raster]

13. Not thinking you really want that.

[Daemonaquila]

16. No kidding.

She apparently has had some problems in the past, but NOW they want her declared incompetent and to rule her life because... gender? Slap them.

[Ino]

2. The father's tellling quote...

from the OP's link...
"I would love to have a son back who goes to church with us on Sunday mornings."

[tymorial]

6. It would appear to me based upon that statement alone

that the mental health of the parents are more in question than their DAUGHTER who would have already had psychiatric counseling to verify that she was competent to make this decision.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Maybe

a 48 year old has reached the age where he or she can make
her own decisions?

Toxic smothering parents never let go.

[tymorial]

4. Sigh

This is outrageous. People who seek tender reassignment surgery go through many hours of counseling as part of the process. No surgery date will be scheduled unless that has been completed. No surgeon is going to proceed with this surgery without the signoff from a qualified mental health professional who specializes in gender identity. There has to be more to this story otherwise I question this judge's ethics. No way would a surgery date be scheduled without validating the mental health of the patient.

[KamaAina]

5. A childhood learning disorder?!

As for depression, that tends to go along with gender dysphoria.

[tymorial]

8. Exactly

It is also why patients seeking gender reassignment surgery must have their mental health evaluated prior to treatment. This is so ludicrous.

[Quackers]

12. Helicopter Parenting level: Expert

[0rganism]

14. all right parents, at 48 it's long past TIME TO LET GO

seriously get a hobby. those model ships aren't going to just put themselves in bottles, ya know.

[uppityperson]

15. UPDATE, judge tells parents tough shit, tells Christine to go ahead

http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2015/09/02/parents-seek-halt-to-48-year-olds-gender-reassignment

Judge clears way for 48-year-old's gender reassignment, denies parents' effort to block

A judge in Pennsylvania has cleared the way for a 48-year-old transgender woman to receive gender-reassignment surgery.

The judge late Wednesday rejected an effort by Christine Kitzler's parents to have her ruled incompetent and to have her plans for the operation at least temporarily halted.

[Daemonaquila]

17. Wooot!

Congratulations Christine! I hope you feel no guilt about telling your parents to go take a hike. Time to celebrate yourself!

[Raster]

19. Right on! Bless her heart.

[LiberalElite]

20. Thank Goodness eom

[question everything]

22. Great! A 48 year old woman should not have her parents running her life (nt)

[jtuck004]

18. Why do they even have standing at the court? None of their business. n/t

[Jim Lane]

21. They were alleging that an immediate family member was mentally incompetent.

Some people do become mentally incompetent. The law makes provision for appointment of a guardian, to prevent harm to the incompetent person or to others. It's not all that uncommon for the judicial proceeding for such an appointment to be initiated by a family member.

Of course, there are other people who aren't mentally incompetent but who just tick off their relatives in one way or another. As a result, some of the proceedings that are brought are completely bogus.

In this case, the system worked. Someone brought a bogus proceeding. The judge gave the parents the chance to prove their case, they failed, and the judge ruled against them.

[Betty Karlson]

23. ~The parents were abusing the law - big time. n/t