Brave Amanda speaks out about the refusal of her son’s gender reassignment surgery that led to his death.
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Devoted mum Amanda De Courcy, 56, lost her beloved son Alexander, 23, whilst he waiting to be referred to a specialist for gender reassignment surgery on the NHS.
Alexander – who lived as a woman and went by the name Synestra – sunk into depression after being refused referral twice by NHS GPs – leaving her desperate.
Heartbreakingly, she turned to prostitution to pay for gender hormones online – costing £500 a month. Synestra also funded 9k facial surgery in Spain and saved for a 10k boob job with money from escorting.
After being let down by the NHS, she was desperately saving to fund gender reassignment surgery in Thailand.
Tragically, Synestra was found dead in July 2015 following a drugs binge.
In a cruel twist of events, she received a letter from the NHS finally confirming she’d been referred 12 days after her tragic death.
Distraught mum Amanda has slammed the NHS for ‘failing to take leading Synestra seriously until it was too late’ and claims this led her to desperate measures to fund her own transition. Now Amanda, an investment broker, and her retired husband John – who also have son Adam, 15 and live in Stevenage, Hertfordshire – are campaigning for quicker referrals within the NHS and better training for GPs dealing with transgender people.
Amanda says: “When I discovered Synestra was prostituting herself I was distraught. I begged her to stop but she was desperate, and I couldn’t afford to pay for her hormones. If only GPs had referred Synestra when she first came to them. I miss her every day.”
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