Man who had sex change operation paid for by NHS says medics ‘betrayed’ him and left him in lifelong pain because he did not want to be gay
- Ritchie Herron, 35, is preparing to sue an NHS trust following his sex change
- He said the operation was ‘the biggest mistake of his life’ and caused him pain
- Mr Herron said medics ‘betrayed’ him after he said he did not want to be gay
A man who had a sex change operation, paid for by the NHS, has said doctors ‘betrayed’ him and left him in lifelong pain because he did not want to be gay.
Ritchie Herron, now 35, had surgery to remove his penis and testicles as part of the transition from male to female.
But he is now preparing to sue Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust after claiming the operation left him in constant pain.
Mr Herron claims it now takes him ten painful minutes to empty his bladder and his sex drive is completely wrong.
The civil servant, from Newcastle, said he was ‘very vulnerable’ when he told doctors and psychiatrists he was confused over his gender.
Ritchie Herron, 35, from Newcastle, is in the process of ‘de-transitioning’. He said medics ‘betrayed’ him by allowing him to go ahead with the sex-change without
He said for decades he had been suppressing his homosexuality and started to question whether he wanted to become a woman.
He claims rather than looking at the homophobia he had felt from a young age, the therapist told he was trans, The Telegraph reports.
Speaking to the LGB Alliance conference in London on Friday, he said: ‘Regret is not a word that should be used for things like this.
‘This isn’t regret, this is more than regret, this is grief, this is anger, this is betrayal.’
Mr Herron had started living under the name Abby, dressing in female clothes and taking testosterone-suppressing drugs.
In 2018 he underwent a vaginoplasty paid for by the NHS.
Prior to transitioning, Mr Herron had been living under the name Abby and had been dressing in female clothes
Mr Herron claims he ‘nearly bled to death’ during surgery and since the operation has had trouble using the toilet and says he has no sensation.
He told the conference: ‘It is catastrophic and it has killed my confidence.
‘I am never going to be the same ever again, there is no reversal to this, do not let anyone tell you that this can be reversed.
‘It is criminal what they are doing to people.’
The man, who is ‘de-transitioning’, said that it was not his fault that he went ahead with the surgery, adding ‘I wasn’t writing the assessments and I wasn’t holding the scalpel’.
He alleges that no one counseled him properly ahead of the procedure, which he has come to regret.
Mr Herron claims that after he began feeling regretful about the operation, he was told by medics that his feelings were an effect of the anesthetic of his pre-existing condition of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
The 35-year-old said it is ‘cruel’ to tell children going through puberty that they are in the wrong body
He alleges that not one health professional looked into whether mental health issues could have made him believe he was trans.
He said, according to The Telegraph: ‘You can say I am trapped in the wrong body and they will agree.
‘But when you say I made a mistake they will say no, you didn’t.’
The campaigner says he had transitioned because he did not want to be a gay man and told his doctor’s he could not see himself with another man.
He said: ‘One of the reasons I transitioned was because I did not want to be a gay man. I said to my therapist I cannot see myself as a man with another man, but I can see myself as a woman with a man, and she said “yes, that is because you are trans”.
‘Not because I hated myself because I am gay, not because I suffered horrific homophobia in school and growing up in the north east of England.’
He added that it is ‘cruel’ to tell children going through puberty they are in the ‘wrong body’ and has called for treatment of transgender children to be reconsidered.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday in June, Mr Herron said that the decision to go ahead with the sex change was ‘the biggest mistake’ of life, leaving him infertile, incontinent and with ongoing pain.
In June, the trust said: ‘Care plans are collaborative and tailored to each patient’s needs and goals, and treatment decisions are made following a thorough assessment in line with national recommendations.’
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