Saturday 17 August 2013

Cutting Through The Lies: Testosterone Levels

Today I received the data from my current GP's office containing the use of and dosage of the testosterone blocker I used to take called cyproteronacetate. This is relevant for the disciplinary case against the VUmc gender team next month, due to their insistence that they measured a (total) testosterone level of 21 nmol/L (normal male level: 9 - 38 nmol/L according to WebMD). I knew this couldn't be right and thus did a fact check.

The facts are as follows: I took 25 mg a day of cyproteronacetate to reach a total testosterone level of 0.7 nmol/L. The dose for male to female transsexuals is twice 50 mg a day, as listed in multiple places including the VUmc's own website [1]. This means that I was taking 25% of the full dose one'd take with an average (~22) testosterone level. Carrying through the calculations, this would mean that I couldn't have had a testosterone level of more than 22 * 0.25 = 5.5 nmol/L. The German biopsy of the testicles which showed them to be undeveloped offer the explanation for this low level.

This tackles one of the two points where the VUmc claims to have done proper testing for intersex. The other point is the physical examination, which is trickier, as it touches upon a third point: that of the MRI scans. The VUmc did not see anything out of the ordinary on the first set of MRI scans, and the disciplinary commission has decided that they too didn't see anything special on the MRI scans. This in direct contradiction with three independent German teams so far who all judged me to be a hermaphrodite.

Despite everything I have gone through the past nearly nine years, I still find myself unable to prove to the Dutch physicians that I am intersex. Part of me hopes that the current German surgeon I'm in contact with comes through on the surgery and that I'll have it next month, prior to the hearing. It might be the only way to win the case, depressingly enough.


Maya


[1] http://www.vumc.nl/afdelingen/zorgcentrum-voor-gender/337056/337060/337556/

No comments: