Sydney woman who transitioned to man SUES psychiatrist for negligence
A woman who transitioned to a man is suing her psychiatrist for professional negligence after he approved her hormone therapy despite only seeing her for a single appointment.
Jay Langadinos, then 19, first met psychiatrist Dr Patrick Toohey on May 7, 2010, after telling a doctor she ‘had always felt she was a boy rather than a girl’, a statement of claim filed in the NSW Supreme Court said.
Jay was assessed by Dr Toohey to determine if she was suitable for transition treatment and, following a single meeting, Dr Toohey ruled that she suffered from gender dysphoria and signed off on the therapy going ahead.
However, in court documents seen by Daily Mail Australia, Jay alleges the recommendation was made despite her admitting she had social phobia and not knowing that ‘psychological factors could influence the outcome of gender transition’.
Dr Toohey also ‘strongly’ recommended that Ms Langadinos receive social and family therapy, though she didn’t receive either. Despite this, the doctor later approved surgeries to remove her breasts and womb as part of the transition.
Now, aged 31, Ms Langadinos is suing Dr Toohey for professional negligence and claims he failed to take the necessary precautions over her transition.
Jay Langadinos was living in Sydney and identifying as male when she first saw psychiatrist and gender transition doctor Patrick Toohey in 2010
Ms Langadinos claims the surgeries have left her suffering with ‘injuries and disabilities’
In her statement of claim, Ms Langadinos said Dr Toohey should have realised she might be autistic and referred her for further assessment by a specialist.
She also says her social phobia should have been treated before any hormone therapy and that she wasn’t given any information on how the transition would affect her fertility.
Ms Langadinos claims the surgeries have left her suffering with ‘injuries and disabilities’.
She also listed several issues she has faced ‘as a result of the negligence’.
They include masculinisation as a result of hormone therapy, loss of her breasts, uterus and ovaries.
She also cited complications from hormone therapy including early menopause, anxiety and depression.
Ms Langadinos says her psychological functioning is impaired and her capacity for employment has diminished because of the transition.
In an interview with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Langadinos alleged that Dr Toohey was negligent and added: ‘Knowing that I can’t have children is absolutely devastating.’
Dr Toohey’s office declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia.
According to the documents filed by Ms Langadinos, after their first meeting, Dr Toohey noted she had been distressed at primary school for having to dress as a girl.
He also noted that she had a ‘tomboy’ manner, was sexually attracted to females, did not have friends, and her parents ‘were not accepting of her transgender issues’.
In a letter to an andrology fellow at Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Dr Toohey admitted Ms Langadinos had ‘a past history of significant social phobia and depression which may have been beyond gender dysphoria’.
Ms Langadinos is suing Dr Toohey for professional negligence and claims he failed to take the necessary precautions over her transition (stock)
In 2020, Ms Langadinos said she realised that ‘she should not have undergone the hormone therapy or the first and second surgeries’.
In January 2020, she also took advice on ending testosterone treatment.
Ms Langadinos said she had a complicated home life and attraction to girls led to her feeling ‘defective’ at 17.
Searching for answers online, she came across gender dysphoria and thought ‘that’s what I have’.
However, she said her transition led to even more unhappiness.
‘As my unhappiness grew, I felt the cause of my unhappiness was because I was not male, so the answer was to change my body even more,’ she said.
‘I had a breakdown, couldn’t function for an entire year. I couldn’t get out of bed. I wish at the time I knew how much I was hurting and why.’
Solicitor Anna Kerr, of NSW’s Feminist Legal Clinic, referred Ms Langadinos’ case to legal firm Slater and Gordon.
‘We can expect to see extensive litigation in future years related to gender-affirming cross-sex hormones and surgeries,’ she said.
The case next appears in the NSW Supreme Court before a registrar on Friday.
