Showing posts with label Carys Massarella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carys Massarella. Show all posts

Sunday 13 April 2014

Interview with Carys Massarella


Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Carys Massarella, a doctor of emergency medicine at McMaster University and Lead Physician of the Transcare Program at Quest Community Health Centre in St. Catharine’s, Canada. She grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, and graduated from the University of Western Ontario. Hello Carys!
Carys: Hello Monika!
Monika: You are one of few ‘non-pathologizing’ trans-care health providers in Ontario. Could you explain what ‘Non-Pathologizing’ stands for?
Carys: A non-pathologizing approach to transgender care essentially implies that there is no diagnosis to make with transgender people. The idea that this is a pathologic process is patently absurd. There is no inherent biological risk in being transgendered.
In that I mean by being transgendered there is no measurable biological effect in a negative way. The documented poor outcomes for trans-identified individuals are a product of issues related to the social determinants of health that affect all such marginalized populations such as poverty, homelessness, access to health care, and violence. These are corrected at the political level with advocacy from health care providers and transgender activists as key players.
So for me, there is no diagnosis essentially to make. I allow transgender people to claim their identity and then provide safe and medically appropriate access to cross-gender hormone therapy and surgery plus support through the transition. That is the essence of what I do.

Search This Blog