VABALOG

I did not know how difficult and how expensive it is to change sex, or that more than 25,000 Americans have done so. Just for starters, the cost of getting rid of a male beard by electrolysis is a minimum of $10,000. Sessions under local anesthesia can run as long as seven or eight hours at a stretch. Since only about 40 percent of the hairs treated are killed at each attempt, retreatments — strippings” — are necessary. Only an “active” follicle can be destroyed; there is no way to tell in advance the stage of growth of a treated follicle. At the second treatment, the percentage of regrowth is reduced to 36; the third leaves 21.7, and so it proceeds. McCloskey was still going back for retreatment after two years of womanhood. But before making the commitment to extirpating the beard, McCloskey scheduled removals of hair on the backs of the hands, then arms, then back, legs and stomach. The dedication required for this monumental task is mind-boggling.

After hair removal came a tummy tuck and breast augmentation. Then facial reconstruction: reduction of the eyebrow ridge by grinding down the bones; cheek and jaw surgery, an operation to reduce the nose, move the hairline forward, point the jaw, lift the eyebrows. The first voice operation was not successful, nor were subsequent ones. Retraining the existing voice proved a better solution. “Get a tape recorder,” Deirdre was advised. “Place your voice forward. Speak in your head instead of your chest. Articulate more clearly. No harsh onsets.”