A woman who changed her mind about transitioning is suing the psychiatrist who approved the treatment.
Jay Langadinos, from Sydney, Australia, was 19 years old when she went to see Dr Patrick Toohey and told him that she 'felt like a boy rather than a girl'.
She had been referred to Dr Toohey by her endocrinologist to determine whether or not she was suitable for hormone therapy.
According to the referral letter from Professor Ann Conway, she suggested that it 'seemed likely' Jay had 'true gender dysphoria'.
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However, she added that the patient was also 'very young' and 'clearly' needed 'thorough psychiatric work-up before embarking on hormone treatment'.
But after just one meeting in 2010, Dr Toohey diagnosed Jay, now 31, with gender dysphoria and agreed for her to undergo treatment.
Two years later, Jay went to Dr Toohey and said she was keen to have her breasts removed, which he saw 'no contradiction' in, and in April that year, she underwent a double mastectomy.
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Less than seven months later, Jay then had her womb removed.
However, four years later, in 2016, Jay was seeing a psychiatrist and 'came to the realization that she should not have undergone the hormone therapy or the first and second surgeries'.
In 2020, she then contacted an endocrinologist about stopping her testosterone treatment. However, now no longer identifying as a man, Jay is suing Dr Toohey for professional negligence.
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Jay claims that he should have realised at the time that she was autistic and suffered from social phobia, and he should have referred her to another specialist.
She alleges that the procedures have badly affected her life, leaving her with 'injuries and disabilities'.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Jay said: "Knowing that I can’t have children is absolutely devastating."
Jay said she began experiencing issues with her gender when she was a teenager, describing how she felt 'defective' and was attracted to girls.
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It was while searching for answers online that she came across the idea of dysphoria.
She said: "And because of the definition of dysphoria, I thought, 'That’s what I have'. I decided that I must be transgender because of my discomfort that I had in my body.
"As my unhappiness grew, I felt the cause of my unhappiness was because I was not male, so the answer was to change my body even more.
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"I had a breakdown, couldn’t function for an entire year. I couldn’t get out of bed. I wish at the time I knew how much I was hurting and why."
Solicitor Anna Kerr, of NSW's Feminist Legal Clinic, referred Jay's case to the law firm Slater and Gordon, and said this will not be the only one to come to court in the future.
She said: "We can expect to see extensive litigation in future years related to gender-affirming cross-sex hormones and surgeries."
Dr Toohey’s representatives have asked for further information on the claim before filing a defence.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers
Topics: Australia, Health, Mental Health
Dominic Smithers