SRS Becomes an Accepted Treatment for Transsexualism in the U.S

The early Johns Hopkins announcement and publications coincided with the publication of The Transsexual Phenomenon, by Harry Benjamin, M.D. in late 1966. The result of many years of research observations and clinical practice by Dr. Benjamin became the seminal text on transsexualism. The book finally identified transsexualism as a distinct, major medical affliction in which patients have an innate gender identity opposite to the genital sex of their bodies. These theories and results obtained considerable attention within the U.S. medical community over the next several years - but most of it was highly skeptical. Then, following interactions with Dr. Benjamin and some of his patients, physicians at the Stanford Medical Center started a exploratory gender clinic in 1969, led by Norman Fisk, M.D. and Donald Laub, M.D. SRS operations were undertaken on selected MtF patients, and the Stanford clinical and surgical results further validated the concept of SRS as treatment for those suffering from intense transsexualism. Acceptance of SRS as a serious and valid treatment for transsexualism began to slowly spread among thought leaders in the U.S. medical community. Hospitals around the country began gradually lifting their bans on transsexual surgeries, and surgeons at various locations began performing these surgeries on small numbers of selected patients in the U.S. In 1969 Stanley Biber, M.D. (1924-2006*), a surgeon in Trinidad, Colorado, began performing MtF SRS vaginoplasty operations using information he obtained from the surgical team at Johns Hopkins. The excellent successes of his surgeries became widely known, and patients streamed to him. For many years Dr. Biber performed over 150 MtF SRS's per year, and by the year 2000 had performed over 4500 of them. A USA Today article told Dr. Biber's story, as follows: