So much to take in and chew reading everyone's posts here. The psychological basis behind this medical fascination is quite the undertaking and there are many factors, I'm sure most of which was touched upon here. I agree with @JTMac that, altogether, the exams, whether real or play, allow a safe space to explore one's feelings and even their sexuality. For me, I was kind of a late bloomer, and in fact, have many repressed emotions stemming from childhood into my teenage years that left me with emotional scars and trauma. Meeting my husband, opened up a world I never knew about and one that scared me because it meant my entire paradigm had to be reexamined. As a 30 something year old, that's a tough pill to swallow but also, in its own right, gave me this problem that I NEEDED to get solved. I'm a problem solver, I love figuring out "the why behind the what's." I'm never satisfied with incomplete and unknowns, there just HAS to be an answer.
My husband helped me unpack a lot of my emotional trauma, though there were still missing pieces. As we continued on exploring his own fascination with rectal temperatures, we met other like minded individuals with similar interests. These individuals aided in my own discoveries and in the process, those missing pieces started to come together for me. More memories I tried to repress re surfaced as I let them come to the surface.
As a result, these exams, provided they're done in a safe environment, not weird or awkward chemistry present, allows me to explore my own sexuality in a sense, in a safe place. It's not like we're having sex with other people, what I'm saying is there's this whole element that takes place during an examination where I'm giving up control that I try so hard to hold onto in my everyday life. With the right person, it's safe to let go and enjoy the experience of being explored. Maybe being married and my husband watching, as opposed to being single doing this, makes it safer.
These play exams my husband and I have, are more than just play for me. It's kind of like losing your virginity for the first time. It was a little scary but it was thrilling and now you want to continue to learn more about it..how to make it feel better, how to embrace it. I can tell you, since I've allowed myself that safe space to let go and have fun, our love and sex life had become better. I thought there was something wrong with me because I always felt, as good as my husband is in bed,I could never really enjoy sex. It was those repressed emotions and trauma that I couldn't find a release for.
This is why, thus far, my safe space is with the opposite sex and with a dominant, confident but also endearing, doctor. I believe there's also some father issues re surfacing for me, and I think in a way its fulfilled through these exams. Maybe to some, that can be strange but for me, it's cathartic and again, it's allowing me to reexamine and process my emotions. We work sooooo much and don't have much time to ourselves. I look forward to play exams now, more than I've ever allowed myself to be, in the past six years. For me, what else am I going to learn about myself? Just thinking out loud, and maybe there thoughts will evolve overtime. 🙂