Female hormones as a trick to dodge military service

Trying to find those using this method of army evasion in the Livejournal, the journalists of the European Radio for Belarus managed to locate only the information that they do exist. Unfortunately, they refused to disclose their coordinates.

Then, we called Siargej Luckih, the chief of draft department at a conscription office in Minsk to find out if he had any statistics in this regard.

“In every case, doctors are the ones to decide. Doctors bear criminal responsibility for their expert decisions. That’s why all of the cases will be analyzed and reviewed individually.

The inter-district medical commissions dealing with this. They operate throughout the year, apart from August. The medical commissions are empowered to take decision regarding the registration of conscripts and the draft,” he said.

Those commissions work in almost every clinic. It is normally up to them to decide whether a young man is to be recruited to build cottages for generals or to receive TB treatment for the next one year and a half.

“All by-effects will be identified after check-up at the commission. The doctors will identify for how long a young man was taking hormones. In this case, the hormonal background can be changed, leading to hair distribution according to adult woman pattern. Some hormonal diseases can be developed, too. But, additional examinations are needed in order to determine exactly whether he is fit for military service or not,” Maria Shukina, the chief doctor of the military medical commission at the Minsk-based hospital No 28 told the European Radio for Belarus.

Additional examinations are ordered not for every conscript, of course. But, when doctors detect hormonal changes, they call in endocrinologists.

“The body will be developing in accordance with the female pattern. Breasts can even grow, too. The functions of testicles will be suppressed. It means that the man risks becoming infertile and losing all male functions.

Hormone-taking can cause the swelling of liver and testicles and other body parts. Normal people cannot do it. If you start taking hormones without supervision from doctors, irrevocable changes will develop in your body already after six months.

In this case, the man is deliberately doing harm to his health. This is of course a contraindication for the army service. In this case, the help of psychologists should be sought,” said Sviatlana Carankievic, the director of the Minsk Endocrinology Clinic.

After these words, we could not but approach a psychology expert. Igar Sarokin, a psychiatrist, has commented on this situation as follows:

“From the psychiatric point of view, one can assume that this man has some deviations in terms of his personality development. In any case, this is an extraordinary and unusual means of achieving his aim,” he said.

Thus, it appears that taking female hormones can indeed help conscripts dodge the draft. But, even if this goal is achieved, it will be impossible to return to the original condition.

Besides, you will be advised to consult with a psychiatrist. Healthy people do no normally take hormones, according to the specialists.