# Belgian transman killed by euthanasia after a botched sex change operation **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 2, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164 "2013-10-02T05:19:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/1 "2013-10-02T05:19:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Nathan, born Nancy, Verhelst, 44, was given legal euthanasia, most likely by lethal injection, on the grounds of “unbearable psychological suffering” on Monday afternoon. > Wim Distelmans, a cancer specialist who carried out the euthanasia, is the same doctor who late last year gave lethal injections to congenitally deaf twins who were frightened they were also going blind. > “I was the girl that nobody wanted,” Mr Verhelst told Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper in the hours before her death. > “While my brothers were celebrated, I got a storage room above the garage as a bedroom. ‘If only you had been a boy’, my mother complained. I was tolerated, nothing more.” > Mr Verhelst had hormone therapy in 2009, followed by a mastectomy and surgery to construct a penis in 2012. But “none of these operations worked as desired”. > “I was ready to celebrate my new birth,” he told the newspaper. "But when I looked in the mirror, I was disgusted with myself. My new breasts did not match my expectations and my new penis had symptoms of rejection. I do not want to be… a monster. " [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/10346616/Belgian-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/10346616/Belgian-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation.html) Surgically creating a penis is a lot more difficult than surgically creating a vagina, so it is not surprising that he has post-op issues. It seems hasty to me to determine just a year or so after the procedures that it was a hopeless situation though. Recovering from major surgery and coming to terms with the psychological effects would of course take time. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/2 "2013-10-02T07:31:38Z")
Yeah, I wish there were more details about how exactly doctors came to that conclusion, and how he was suffering, because I do know a handful of folks who had botched trans-related surgeries, including botched genital surgeries, and they don’t exactly plan to kill themselves anyway. But I could see a case for someone who had your average genital surgery results but hadn’t fully grasped before that he wouldn’t end up with an average male body, or who thought it would fully cure his dysphoria. I do also know folks like that, people who were highly dysphoric about their genitals, who got genital surgery, who were hopping surgery would solve that problem, once they hadn’t female genitals anymore, but who then realized that nope, they were still highly depressed about the state of their genitals, still different looking. I could totally see them kill themselves one day over it. But “one day”, not just a year after FTM bottom surgery. You have barely fully healed at that point, if all went well, and only if they didn’t do it in steps (like, first the penis, then 6 months after the testicular prosthesis and erectile pump). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/3 "2013-10-02T07:43:11Z")
Based on the narrative in the OP I question just how transexual this person was. Did Verhelst believe himself to actually be a man, or did Verhelst seek the surgery due to feeling rejected as a woman and in hope of finally being accepted only to find that that was not the solution? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/4 "2013-10-02T09:44:29Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Based on the narrative in the OP I question just how transexual this person was. Did Verhelst believe himself to actually be a man, or did Verhelst seek the surgery due to feeling rejected as a woman and in hope of finally being accepted only to find that that was not the solution? Combination of both? In a warped sort of way I can see the whole If Only I Were A Boy being a fixation for all her life so she basically forced herself into dysphoria but because she didn’t pop out of anasthetic wanting to screw and with a hardon like in some fantasy porn flick reality hit and the depression kicked in. I am not dysphoric and can have no real comprehension of how it must feel, but isn’t the whole procedure started with fairly long and intensive psych sessions? And doesn’t the whole hormone part take like a year? I think if I were the psych in charge [don’t tell me the whole process is not overseen by a shrink or panel of shrinks and surgeons!:eek:] I would have somehow hospitalized her with therapists for at least 6 months to a year before allowing euthanasia. Actually, I think I would insist on at least 6 months counseling for euthanasia based on psychological issues instead of painful or terminal medical conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/5 "2013-10-02T10:48:15Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Actually, I think I would insist on at least 6 months counseling for euthanasia based on psychological issues instead of painful or terminal medical conditions. Well the article says “Nathan underwent counseling for six months.” I find this so sad. I just wish that something could’ve been done to turn his life around ☹ But I do kinda understand. I had several surgeries when I was a teen, and unfortunately each time the surgeon set my expectations very high (unrealistically high), so that for a good six months afterwards I was very depressed and was suicidal after one surgery in particular. And while what I went through is nothing in comparison to gender dysphoria, his family history and the feelings he would’ve struggled with, I can see how he would rather end it all. Just really sad because he may have found happiness ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/6 "2013-10-17T08:15:40Z")
I just don’t understand why he would need medical assistance. If I can agree with euthanasia at all, it’s under the idea that the person has the right to end their life (something I’m still not 100% sure on) but can’t do so and needs help. It shouldn’t be about just making suicide easier. Part of choosing suicide requires overriding that built-in urge to stay alive–thinking that suicide is worth fighting that. It really shouldn’t be something someone else does for you unless there’s just no other way. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/7 "2013-10-17T09:33:16Z")
I actually wonder if some (note I say SOME) “trans” is actually extreme self hatred. Transexuality IS legit…there are sex chromosome disorders and hormone disorders that CAN manifest transsexuality…but it also almost seems like some trans people have trans as a symptom of a greater problem, rather then the problem itself… ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/8 "2013-10-17T10:05:40Z")
This is a tragic situation, but I don’t exactly see what the OP wants us to debate about it. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/9 "2013-10-17T10:20:44Z")
Meh. Yes, a year isn’t very long to determine whether a sex change operation is going to fix all your problems-- but in a person with this much self-hatred, I think at least part of the pre-op misery ought to count when determining whether the person has suffered “enough” for euthanasia. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/10 "2013-10-17T11:36:18Z")
A woman spent her childhood being treated like shit by her parents, and you tell her they were right? Yeah, I can see how that’s going to end poorly for her. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/11 "2013-10-17T16:30:30Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > A woman spent her childhood being treated like shit by her parents, and you tell her they were right? Yeah, I can see how that’s going to end poorly for her. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/12 "2013-10-17T17:36:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Huh? She grew up with misogynistic parents who treated her like shit because they thought she should have been a boy. These assholes decided her parents were right and that surgically altering her to look like a man was the solution, instead of doing the sane thing and trying to undo the damage caused by her parents’ abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/13 "2013-10-17T17:42:29Z")
Do you have any evidence that Verhelst’s transsexuality was due to his parent’s treatment of him? Lots of women have grown up with misogynistic parents - arguably, most women throughout history - and yet a very, very, tiny percentage of them identify as transsexual. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgian-transman-killed-by-euthanasia-after-a-botched-sex-change-operation/670164/14 "2013-10-18T00:46:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Do you have any evidence that Verhelst’s transsexuality was due to his parent’s treatment of him? Lots of women have grown up with misogynistic parents - arguably, most women throughout history - and yet a very, very, tiny percentage of them identify as transsexual. Grumman doesn’t care very much for transpeople’s decisions about their gender - here’s one example of his thoughts on them, from a past thread. > [@"Gender identity" is mental illness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-identity-is-mental-illness/667011/144): > > Transsexuals are like the religious right: idiots who hold a counterfactual worldview who think it’s hate speech to not treat their worldview as true.