The other other half (cont'd 2)

A few points...

No one goes through "transgender surgery" to "become gay" (as was suggested). When a person has surgery, they don't really "become" anything. True, in many places, the society finally allows people to correct their birth certificates and other ID after they opt for surgery, but a person is who they are... before and after surgery. Yes, society at large can't grasp this, but that doesn't make it any less true. I don't think that the surgeon's not understanding the concept has too much to do with whether or not someone gets good surgery... although I do think that the psychologists' not understanding this has a lot to do with who is and isn't allowed to identify as the sex/gender they feel most suits them... and hence, actually qualifies for surgery in the first place. The fact that someone with a stereotypical female body is actually a gay man is not a fact most therapists can grasp... and even more so, the fact that a healthy woman could be completely fine with a stereotypical male body is WAY over the top. (This comes up a lot when discussing the crap that "non-op" MtFs have to deal with.)

The chest surgery is not usually a very difficult surgery. Only in cases where the FtM has particularly large breasts does it become a little more tricky, and that's just because there are bigger scars to camouflage. I can't even guess the amount of breast enlargements/reductions that are done every day in this country. It's not uncharted territory. The "mistakes" which are made are mistakes like not putting in drains, or binding too tight post-surgery and having the chest area necrotize because of it, or not positioning the nipples correctly, or not removing glands, or not removing certain areas of fat, or taking more skin from one side than the other... "mistakes" which aren't really mistakes at all, just the doings of an uncaring surgeon. To add to all of that, right now, because there is no legal precedent, botched surgeries have to just be dealt with by the individual. The FtM can't sue the surgeon for malpractice, even if he knows the surgeon knew better. The lawyers will not take the case, because it's, basically, unwinnable.