how long after seeing a psychiatrist does it take to get HRT?

[Ataraxia]

How long after talking to a psychiatrist about your ->-bleeped-<- does it take for them to put you on a hormone prescription? I ask because I want to make a timeline an actually have some solid dates substantiated. Right now me getting an HRT prescription seems like a lifetime away, so I would at least like to have some point in time to look forward too--even if it's not precise. That said, I know the time is variable, but I'm sure there's a nominal range (I know it doesn't range from 1 week after the first visit to 50 years after the first visit, so there certainly must be some finite error margin). Can anyone help me out?

[Lauren5]

It all varies.
My university wants 6 months; I think that's a bit excessive, considering I've known that this is what I want and I'm not going to regret it for a few years now.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

It is a minimum of 90 days. It took me 8 months but I was only seeing the guy once a month.

[Cindy]

It varies from place to place.

One hour 45 mins in the clinic I go to, if there are no co-morbidities. First session 45 mins, and 2 follow ups of 30 mins. OK they are spread over 3 months depending upon availability of sessions.

But it varies from place to place. Informed consent models are the quickest BUT they have to know you are informed and capable of giving consent.

[Ataraxia]

And what are they "determining" in these sessions? Like, are they getting an idea of if you're "worthy" of getting HRT (i.e. your life is in order, you're not very depressed, you're out of the closoet, etc.) or are they just determining if you are competent enough to give informed consent? Like what kinds of questions do they ask, and what is the overall goal of these sessions?

[Cindy]

And what are they "determining" in these sessions? Like, are they getting an idea of if you're "worthy" of getting HRT (i.e. your life is in order, you're not very depressed, you're out of the closoet, etc.) or are they just determining if you are competent enough to give informed consent? Like what kinds of questions do they ask, and what is the overall goal of these sessions?

Are you truly accepting of your gender. Are you capable of living your life in your 'chosen' gender. Are there issues beyond being transgender affecting your perceptions. Will you be happy? Do you need additional support, as in do you need do you have contact with people who can help you deal with life changes, increasingly here a 'new' transgender person may be offered contact to other TG people who can help them assimilate.

This is one of my roles, I may be asked to meet someone, if they wish, and as a MtF take them out, go shopping, take them to everyday social places for coffee etc. Lend them some support in transitioning.

The overall goal is to make sure the person will be happy.

Competency in making informed consent is an issue. The person has to be able to understand what they are doing to their body and the consequences physically and socially and the consequence of wanting to detransition.

I have now seen the extremes and an all for one model doesn't work. But the idea is to help quickly those who will benefit straight away and to allow a smooth path for them and to take care of those who have other issues.

[Ataraxia]

Ok that's very good to know, thank you for the information!

Are there any circumstances where they won't give you HRT? Like is there a chance that they'll determine that I can't have it or something? That's another thing I've been kind of worried about. I'm 100% certain that this is the right thing to do, but it really worries me that the importance of my own certainty pales in comparison to their certainty...well, at least in their eyes it does.

[Cindy]

Obviously I can only talk about the facility I am involved in, and I am peripheral. But they are concerned with the client, they want to make sure it is OK for the client.

We hear the gatekeeper word and it frightens us. ALL medics are gatekeepers. They have to be, that doesn't mean they want to stop you, they want to make certain it is the way you want to go and is the best for you and you understand what you are doing.

Trying to correct a wrong decision is far worse a problem.

I have had this, I have taken out MtF who were certain, and suddenly realising that being a woman every second of every minute of every day of every year is in fact not what they want. They wish to be more fluid or whatever. It is their choice. There is nothing wrong in that.

But realising that before you set fire to every bridge is something we need to be comfortable with.

If you are certain you are gender dysphoric, are MtF and wish to live your life as a female then there should be no problems.

And a disclaimer I am NOT defining what living as female is.

Good gender therapists make no decision on what you are but on what you are happy as. The only person who can tell if you are transgender is YOU.

[Nicole W]

This is one of my roles, I may be asked to meet someone, if they wish, and as a MtF take them out, go shopping, take them to everyday social places for coffee etc. Lend them some support in transitioning.

Oh wow, that's really cool! I didn't know things like that even existed, heh. Thankfully I have my mom for that .

Anyway, I had been seeing a psychologist for a couple of years for anxiety and such, but hadn't ever said anything about wanting to transition (Oooooh week after week of yelling at myself in my head to say something...). I hadn't seen him for about a year, when finally 21 years of being in the closet took its toll and I had a bit of a melt down. I went in to see him, told him how I feel, and I was on HRT within probably 2 weeks. I think a lot of things about me probably made sense to him after I told him haha. I'm guessing this isn't very common though, as even though I hadn't seen him in a year, we had a pretty close relationship and he knew me quite well.

Regardless, good luck to you! From what I've seen, you're probably looking at a 2 week to 3 month wait. Also, if you're 100% certain this is what you want to do, I'm sure it'll show and no "gatekeeper" will keep you from doing what you want to do.

[Nicolette]

It took me two hours. One hour session and one hour to get to the pharmacist. This was in the 90s going private in the UK.

[Megumi]

My therapist has conditions that must be met. One being that you have a valid support network of family or friends in place so that you have someone to lean on when/if things get bad or you have down days. Another is the financial side, if you can't afford it then its not the right time to start as she doesn't approve of starting & stopping. You have to be secure enough in life that you can move forward without going bankrupt in the process since that alone can cause you tons of stress that could cause you to make very rash decisions


Even though I wanted to start HRT on day one I agree that her system is valid. I wasn't ready on day one like I thought. But after a month and a lot of work I almost am, I have one last thing to take care of before she will give me my referral.

[Jenna Marie]

Back when I did it, the Standards of Care recommended three months. My therapist fudged that for me a little, since I was clearly certain. (Or rather, I didn't see her for *quite* as many visits as my HRT letter said I had.)

It seems to depend on the therapist - mine said she'd only turned down one person, and he'd come in and frankly informed her that he was a cis man who wanted to transition in order to escape having to list a felony conviction on job applications (!!).

[Northern Jane]

It was a long time ago but I was started on HRT long before I saw a shrink (long before "gender therapists"). I think I was on HRT for 2 years before I was "evaluated" but that was more for surgery. Of course it helped that I had been living part time as a girl for 3 years before HRT.

[Paulagirl]

I left my therapist's office at about 6 p.m. The next morning my Endo called to say he had my letter, could I come in Friday. It was Thursday.
He prescribed after about an hour of orientation, do's and don'ts.
Every therapist, every Dr. and every clinic have different protocols. I know I was fast tracked as my GP was worried about my mental health.
My mental health was fine...it was being a guy that was making me crazy!