Truthseeker:
You'd think that, yes. However, on the documentary, several of them said they had been in therapy for several years and it had not cured them of their thinking that their limb was just not supposed to be there. Kind of reminds me of the people that are transgendered. They just don't feel right unless their body image matches exactly the way they feel inside. I can see how it would be very disturbing. Hell, I don't know if they are BORN with it, or if something is just messed up when they are kids. There' s just no explaining it for me, but I have to take their word for it. It must be an all-encompassing desire, since they go to such extremes to have the offending limb removed: even to the extreme of removing it themselves. One guy in the documentary put his leg on dry ice for several hours, so that he would suffer frost bite. He said that it was very painful, and he was shaking and crying when his mate took him to the emergency room. The doctor said that he might have to amputate. The guy was really excited. Then the doc said that he could save the leg, and the guy told the doctor that if he *didn't* amputate, that he would do it again. The doctor amputated.
I guess if it's okay to let surgeons alter someone's gender physically, what's the point of penalizing them because of removing a limb that is healthy?
I am not sure if the term "apotemnophilia" is a good term for it, though. That implies a sexual disorder. For most of these people, it doesn't seem to me to be a sexual disorder, but more of an identity disorder.
Country Girl