Health Chiefs to Speed Up Sex Changes

[lostflower]

Hmm and I said that I didn't like my clinics system and refused to accept their protocols looks like I was right
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/health-chiefs-to-speed-up-sex-changes.18199251

Hannah

[AbraCadabra]

Sounds almost as bad as the South African dilemma, at least it seems to be dealt with in Scotland. Something SA 'authorities' have not considered at all.
If you commit suicide in SA, you were simply not fit enough to go through the their "process".
Only other solution... start you OWN surgery, than go to ER - something I've seen/heard from the woman sitting next to me in a hospital 'gender meeting' waiting to get SRS acceptance ... another hurdle yet needing to pass AFTER obtaining psychiatrist's pass...

Axélle

[Bexi]

"Around 100 people seek help from specialist gender identity clinics every year" Really? I referred myself to the main GIC in Glasgow and had to wait 10 months for my first appointment.

I like the part about hormones and electrolysis being offered earlier - I think this is good news for people who are beginning their transition but are extremely self conscious about how they present.
x

[lostflower]

Ah sounds like you're another victim of the Sandyford
Ewan and Gerber need to stop practising gender therapy and start getting it right.
If I didn't agree with them I just ignored them and did it anyway and it all worked out for me
.....weirdly though last month they were very flexible officially looking at a more complicated HRT regimen that I've been buying myself for months I wonder if it's related to those new guidelines

[Bexi]

Ah sounds like you're another victim of the Sandyford
Ewan and Gerber need to stop practising gender therapy and start getting it right.
If I didn't agree with them I just ignored them and did it anyway and it all worked out for me
.....weirdly though last month they were very flexible officially looking at a more complicated HRT regimen that I've been buying myself for months I wonder if it's related to those new guidelines

Really? I've got an appointment with Gerber in September. I admit I self-medicated before then but it was due to necessity rather than anything else. Sounds like I did the right thing 

BTW how was it with you? What did they want/need?
X

[lostflower]

The Sandyford works (worked?) on the basis of HRT after three months of real life test
I couldn't afford to transition right away, my pay isn't good enough to buy an entire wardrobe all at once while taking care of most of my own facial hair (it's taken nearly two years for me to buy just enough clothes to do transition now and six sessions of IPL at £200 each month) and then what two years of clothes shopping and suffering as a male then wait another three months wearing female clothes and feeling taunted, feeling no different just to make them happy and jump through hoops I refused to play ball point blank. As I said to Dr Ewan one of us has to compromise and when I say one of us I mean you.
Long story short I've had six months of HRT giving slight but helpful changes in subcutaneous fat structure, a surprising amount of booby growth for my age in the time nearly an A-cup considering I'm over 30.
Combined with my own pretty good bum (I had a 28"waist and 36" hips before I started HRT) not much beard left after IPL (which the Sandyford are now giving me rather than me paying for it) and I have enough clothes/shoes/whatever to be Hannah full time now

[Bexi]

Congrats on being able to be you 

I'm in the same boat(-ish). I've got a year of university left and haven't got much money at the moment, so my wardrobe is kinda non-existent and i've only managed 2 sessions of electrolysis. I like paying for what I need and not using the system, but if their offering me free sessions, i'll gladly accept 

I've thought long and hard about my appointment and am probably gonna go with the "I know that I need to transition, known it from an early age, i'm already self-medicating, feel much happier, I'd rather have supervision re: my own health/blood works etc so lets go ahead make it official" spiel.
x

[lostflower]

I was lucky enough to be shaped to fit in womens cut jeans better than mens anyway so I bought straight cut Diesel and Bench ones cheap on ebay all I needed to keep up the pretense of my male wardrobe were tshirts and hoodies which I had anyway.....and a staff discount at M&S and a supportive mother picking up womens stuff for me helps no end
But lately I've been out shopping (and trying stuff on) by myself and with my sister you'd be surprised how little attention people pay either that or they simply don't care that I'm trans I'd prefer the former but I'll take the latter.

[Serah]

You all are lucky out there just for the fact that they offer free electrolysis to you. I wish that the states would jump on board the bandwagon of that cause im going to start having to pay $40-100 a session here maybe more and I still have yet to find a clinic where i feel at home and welcome instead of outcasted.

[Bexi]

To be honest, I feel incredibly lucky that theres this level of support which I never knew about until only recently. Theres still problems, but I think Scotland is showing progressive thinking on this topic.

Good luck with the seach for a good clinic and keep us updated 
x

[lostflower]

In truth the NHS is a wonderful thing I feel sorry for any country that treats healthcare like a business
I sometimes forget although the methods of GT's over here are maybe ten years behind their American counterparts we still get our biggest parts of our treatments paid for so we can focus on saving for what most would consider luxuries like FFS, minor top ups to hair removal and whatever.