Title: Transgender Woman Challenges Past Psychiatric Treatment

Jayne McFadyen, now 60, reflects on her childhood experience in a psychiatric hospital where she was treated for wanting to be a girl. Admitted at age 10 in 1975 to Stubbs Terrace Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Perth, Jayne endured what she describes as a form of conversion therapy.

For nearly six months, she faced constant surveillance and humiliating inspections. "If I had to go to the toilet … I'd have the door open so they could check that I wasn't just sitting down to pee. That I actually stood like a boy and urinated," Jayne recalled. She was also isolated from her parents, allowed to see them only one night a week.

Jayne, a transgender woman, said, "What they did was a form of conversion therapy. When I came out, I had suppressed my sense of gender so far down because I was worried that should I express anything feminine … I would be sent back to the psych hospital. I was so terrified."

Her experience may be linked to a medical study published in 1987 by Dr. Robert Kosky, which examined the treatment of children with what was then termed "gender identity disorder." The study described eight children, including Jayne, who were hospitalized for their gender nonconformity. It suggested that their behaviors stemmed from inappropriate family dynamics and claimed that the hospital program corrected these behaviors.

Dr. Anja Ravine, a trans youth health researcher, expressed concern over the study's implications. "Older studies are being used to influence the current debate about trans healthcare," she said. "It's implicit that they were expecting gender identity to return to what was expected. So that is really within the definition of conversion therapy."

Conversion therapy practices are now illegal in most parts of Australia. Dr. Ravine noted that individuals subjected to such treatments often carry long-term psychological scars. Despite the age of the Kosky paper, it continues to be cited by opponents of gender-affirming care in various legal and medical contexts.

Jayne's story aligns closely with one of the children mentioned in the Kosky paper. She identified with a case study that described a 10-year-old boy who wanted to be a girl. Jayne's hospital admission dates and medical records correspond with the details provided in the study.

She disputes some claims made in the paper, particularly the assertion that no attempts were made to encourage masculine behavior. "When I looked at the actual admissions sheet, it stated on there that my reason for admission was to stop me from being transsexual in adolescence," she said.

After her release, Jayne suppressed her identity, conforming to societal expectations. She married and had children but struggled with her mental health. Her wife, Deb, noticed her distress and encouraged her to explore her true self.

"She was on a path of self-destruction and she was obviously depressed and angry," Deb said. "I said, 'Why don't you just move out for a bit and decide who you want to be or who you need to be?'" This pivotal moment led Jayne to transition 22 years after her discharge from the hospital.

Now, Jayne and Dr. Ravine have co-authored a critique of the Kosky paper, published in the same journal that originally featured it. They aim to correct the misinformation that continues to influence current discussions on trans healthcare.

"It's important for lawmakers, the courts and policymakers to understand that past reports like this are really in the category of misinformation and they should be seen for what they are," Dr. Ravine stated.

Through the challenges, Deb has remained supportive. The couple remarried in 2019. "Jayne's outer shell was different, but intrinsically she was still the same person," Deb said.

Today, Jayne feels at peace with her identity. "I absolutely feel good in my skin now I know who I am. I don't feel uncomfortable anymore. I don't feel like I'm putting on a mask whenever I walk out the doors," she said. "I'm Jayne, that is it. If you don't like me, you don't like me. If you do like me, you do like me. But this is who I am."