My therapist has urged me to say some last words over this disastrous thread.
I'm struggling with moment-to-moment dissociation and remorse. I arrogantly sailed myself into a perfect storm, naked and without a life jacket, thinking that for once I could offer something to others needing help.
Stripped bare, I left myself vulnerable to my own incompetence and mental illness.
I committed written suicide. But more atrociously, I welcomed other vulnerable people around me to share the destruction. I shall not ask undeserved forgiveness from those I have harmed.
I cannot re-read again this thread without more self-hate. And I deeply regret, after opening old wounds, not persisting in trying to convey some meaning to my original purpose.
If anyone is still listening, I will say that I am deeply sorry for not controlling my multiple triggers. Failure has been my trademark, yet I've seldom damaged others in such a reckless way. So this time, my guilt is much more acute. I have done this publicly, so there is nowhere to hide my shame.
Anyone whom I have harmed is assured that I welcome my impending punishment.
Hypospadias' very existence, its private repercussions and public secrecy have fostered my worst forms of self-loathing and maladaptation. Yet I'm not alone with it, and wanted to spare others a life like mine.
If there is consolation for others, it is that I and many others like me are old. Medicine, mental health services, and education have evolved radically since my birth. It is my hope that someday society too will catch up with the simplest reality of NEEDED genital surgeries for what they can be: a means of helping children with abnormalities to be "not abnormal."
I think it was
@Lucycat who said she counsels parents and kids about hypospadias and related problems. To her and her profession, I suggest these beliefs: With proper guidance and modern pediatric surgery, there is hardly an excuse for parents not to spare their babies a lifetime of confusion and trauma related to hypospadias and similar conditions. The best-informed and loving parents cannot shield their kids from society's ignorance and cruelty. And no child is equipped to decide for himself whether to let someone cut his genitals.
While CDC mulls environmental causes for genital anomalies, it is well-known that genetics are an influence. Scientists can dither all they want. But it is a fact that steadily more cases of hypospadias are occurring. One source says that hypospadias and similar conditions rank second (after respiratory) among the most common anomalies among newborn boys.
Why? IN SOLELY MY QUESTIONABLE OPINION, it is because new generations of babies are having more successful surgery, having normal lives including marriage and fatherhood, and passing on the gene to their kids. That SHOULD NOT BE A FRIGGIN' SECRET MYSTERY!
Maybe that's it for me. Cold sober but stumbling-tired and numb. My demons want me back in our lair. They can have me now.