Poor, black and uninsured transgender people seek illegal back-room procedures

For those who struggle with their gender identity living in what they believe is the “wrong body” can cause years of anguish and mental confusion. So much so that many transgender people are compelled to spend tens of thousands of dollars on hormone treatment and surgery to alter their bodies. Not all transgender people, though, can afford surgery or other body modifications, especially if they are poor, black and uninsured. That’s where illegal back-room procedures by unlicensed surgeons come into play. The cost of gender reassignment therapy doesn’t come cheap. A licensed plastic surgeon can cost anything between $8,000 and $100,000 depending on what procedures get done.
In 2010, the national average for buttocks surgery was between $4,500 and $5000, according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The recent spate of illegal backstreet “surgeons” and bogus butt enhancement operations highlights the growing problem. In many of the cases “fake plastic surgeons” are transsexual or transgender individuals and clients hear of services “word of mouth” in the transgender community. Indeed, as buttock enhancements increasingly become the new boob job the desire for surgery has skyrocketed. In the case of British student, Claudia Aderotimi, 20, who died after a botched butt operation in a hotel room in Philly, at least one of her so-called doctors was a transgendered woman. In recent weeks, Oneal Ron Morris, 30, a transgender woman, was arrested in Miami for injecting “super glue” and flat-tire repair materials into the buttocks of women in an illegal cosmetic surgery procedure. Another one of her victims, Rajee Narinesingh, 48, who, like Morris, was born a man, but lives as a woman, says her face was disfigured by Morris following a botched face life. “It becomes so dire that you want to match your outside with your inside that you’re willing to roll the dice and take your chances,” said Narinesingh in an interview with CBS Miami. “As a transgender person, you’re thinking ‘Oh, my God, I can start to look like I want to look like and I don’t have to spend a lot of money.’” “All three of Morris’s victims are now receiving medical treatment and reconstructive surgery,” says Miami Gardens Police Sergeant Bill Bamford. “They tried to save a few dollars on the front end and it’s now costing them thousands on the back end, not to mention the pain and discomfort.” South Florida tends to attract physicians from places like South America, who, for whatever reason are not licensed to practice in United States. However, Sgt. Bill Bamford says, to his knowledge “Morris doesn’t have any medical training.” Her services were spread by word-of-mouth in the transgender community and many of her victims trusted Morris because of her trans status, he says. “We have received several calls from even more people who claim to be victims of Morris, of these, several are transgender,” says Sgt. Bill Bamford. “Over the next few weeks we are scheduling dates to meet all these alleged victims.” (more…)

The post Poor, black and uninsured transgender people seek illegal back-room procedures appeared first on TheGrio.