I

WANT TO

CHANGE MY SEX!

DEAR DOCTOR:

Posed by professional models

The following letter, received by this magazine, was referred to the eminent international authority on "sex change" problems. Harry Benjamin, M.D.

What can I do to end my misery? In body I am looked at by others as a male, but in my mind and heart I see myself as a woman.

Life has played a dirty trick on me, forcing me to live with the outer appearance of a man, but the inner feelings and emotions of a woman. Although my sex is male, I really think I am very much on the feminine side. Except that I do not have breasts, I have a womanly figure. On occasion, while dressed as a female (something I feel com- pelled to do quite frequently to ease my emotional tension) I have been told that I am quite beautiful. People look at me with respect and admiration. Not so when I am dressed as a man.

Perhaps I could live always dressed in a woman's clothes; but then I would always live in fear of being recognized and arrested. That will not help. Even now, I feel that I am a true woman hiding in the false physical shell of a male.

I understand that some people like me have been able, after years of torment, to find relief and happiness by actually becoming female through treatments and an operation. I am convinced that this is what I really need to end my misery.

I want to change my sex. Can you help me? -F. T. S.

DR. BENJAMIN'S REPLY:

Medical science and modern sur- gery have indeed helped cases like

yours, although not too many and not always too well.

An operation to have your sex "changed" is probably foremost in

68.