Exactly.
Surgeons face a dilemma in these situations. If a physically healthy person requests removal of a healthy body part, his first instinct would be to say no. (Do no harm and all that.) But some such persons are so afflicted with software problems that if refused will go home and do the job themselves at great risk to themselves.
In such cases, I seem to recall ethical medicos deciding to do the chop job safely to preserve the patient’s overall health.
Tough call.
Can you not see the difference between “turning off” a natural function which can be turned back on, and permanently altering your body? Even most cosmetic surgery can be undone. Compare that with the inability to insert another uterus into a female or re-attach a limb to someone who wants it gone. People do change their minds about certain things (like having children) and, if you don’t change your mind, there may be easier ways to accomplish your goal.
That being said, I do feel bad for people with BIID who are otherwise normal people but for that limb that doesn’t seem to belong to them. I believe they should be treated just like transgendered folks that must go though years of therapy and living as the opposite sex before having that surgery performed.
ETA: Whoops…I forgot we are in GQ. Sorry for all that opinion.
I think where Johanna’s coming from is, people who undergo gender reassignment don’t just waltz into a clinic and say “I want to change sexes, make it so!” They have to see a whole slew of doctors and therapists, take hormones, and live as their chosen gender for a while before an ethical doctor will do the surgery.
It also is a controversial subject that can cause a lot of ill feelings and upheavel within their families, peer groups, and professional lives. It’s a lot of difficult hoops they have to jump through to feel at home in their own bodies.
I can see people getting a leeeetle irritated when it gets compared to the OP’s hypothetical Nards of Beelzebub.
Yes, exactly. Thank you.
</digression>
Can I please nominate “Nards of Beelzebub” as today’s band name? I can’t even type out the phrase without getting uncontrollable giggles.
When you’re done with your nut can I have it to send to my buddy with the necklace? It already has a dessicated coon penis on it and what’s left of his hole finger after he blew it off with Primacord but, as yet, no one’s left nut. That’s an oversight I think should be addressed post-haste.
The problem with permanent surgery, or even semipermanent actions like vasectomy and tubal ligation - a doctor who performs such procedures on someone who is not sound of mind and very serious is the risk of being sued later. Most juries who hear a case like this - “I was depressed and delusional, I asked him to chop it off; he did, now I’m better and I want him to pay for his part in mutilating me” - that jury would probably gladly award the nutbar a few million, payable by the doctor. Testicle, arm, foot, uterus, whatever - if the damage is permanent and not reasonable, a doctor in North America is probably not going to perform it. If you want to cut off your own… at least if the doctor referred you to a shrink, he can’t be sued for what you do at home.
Nose job, lasik, or breast enhancement - well that’s logical and not “mutilation” in most people’s eyes.
As for prophylactic alterations - many people mature, and ahve a different attitude as the biological clock ticks down compared to what they had in their early 20’s. (I recall one guy in college who was wondering about vasectomy because his gf was terrified of an accident, and that was the only way he was going to get any. I don’t think his thought process extended beyond Saturday night at that time…) Same problem - the lawsuits over “why didn’t you stop me” are a real risk to any doctor willing to do someone’s bidding.
I bet if you could guarantee no lawsuits, a lot more such procedures would happen.
That’s not really a good comparison though since as long as they have a second working one, it wouldn’t stop them from having children.
I giggled when I previewed the post and saw it.
So what finger does he use for his hole now?
Seriously?
It was designated as such…
dammit Wile E
That’s what he told his wife when he called to tell her.
Oh honey, which finger was it?
My hole finger.
Yes, I know it’s your whole finger but which one?
My hole finger.
Bill, dammit…
I accidentally my hole finger!
Is anyone else hearing “My Left Nut” to the tune of “My Left Foot” from the musical version of “My Left Foot” as sung by Stewie Griffin from Family Guy?
Also, if you have your left nut removed won’t that make the remaining one the left nut?
Most surgeons would not cut off a healthy body part without a damn good reason. Most surgeons still wouldn’t do it then. Most would refer you to a psychiatrist for evaluation of your motivation.
Plus, they’re busy with actual sick people. OR time is limited.
This is an opinion from Canada, YMMV.
OK, well, I’m willing to bet that if I wanted one of my healthy ovaries removed “just because,” I’d run into the same difficulty. Wimmins is supposed to make babies, and any wimmin what doesn’t has got something wrong with her.
Err…who gets a hysterectomy as a form of contraception? They’re pretty major surgery with a non-trivial complication rate. Are you sure you don’t mean tubal ligation?
I wasn’t. You’re taken what I said way over the top. It’s a castration fetish.
Except for cosmetic surgeons who make a living off of doing just that.
What healthy bits do cosmetic surgeons cut off? You mean like nose job cartilage?
There are ethical dilemmas involved in plastic surgery, for sure.