Jobs and Costs?

[Ginny]

Hi everyone.
I was just wondering what job types people have and how they are funding their transitions. I am extremely interested in those in the 23-35 age bracket. This includes SRS, VFS, and FFS (trachea shave/ect). From what I've estimated this has been about $25k, $13k, and $10-25k respectively; which I think is a lot of money for someone in this age category. Take in consideration this doesn't even include hormone costs.
Thanks!

EDIT: Also there's the factor of getting time off for these procedures 2-3wk for SRS, 1-2wk VFS, and 2wk+ for FFS?

[Jenna Marie]

I work full-time as an editor, although I'm freelancing as a journalist and nonfiction writer to make more money. I'm 36 now, but transitioned at 32 and had (and paid for) GRS when I was 34. FWIW, I'd estimate the entire costs of my transition as well under $30K, and now it's just maintenance HRT and endo visits. I didn't have any surgeries but GRS, though, and that accounts for about $20K of the total price. I also took 4 weeks off for GRS, but I have a pretty understanding employer and had banked tons of vacation time.

Mostly, we saved money carefully and live pretty frugally; neither my job nor my wife's pays much, but it's enough to live on and still set some money aside.

[Sybil]

I'm 28. I'm fortunate enough to live at home, but not fortunate enough to have a great job; I work for $9/hour approximately 30 hours a week. I save nearly every penny. By the end of next year, with some luck, I may be making $11-12/hour at about 36 hours a week, which will speed things up considerably. I think I'll be all done in 4 or 5 more years, 3 if my pay goes up.

My estimated costs:
FFS: $25,000 - $30,000
VFS: I'm not getting this as I don't need it.
GRS: $15,000 - $20,000

The way it feels to me, you need to fulfill two of the following criteria in order to fund your transition (at any age):
1. Live at home.
2. Have a lot of saving willpower.
3. Have a high-paying job.

An obvious exception would be to have an extremely high-paying job, in which case it's likely very easy for you to get your surgeries done as you please.

[Zumbagirl]

Technically by education I'm a mechnical engineer. By profession I work in IT. It paid well enough to pay for a gender transition. For me my biggest costs were:

FFS surgery (done in 2 sessions with 2 different surgeons) but totalled around 22-25k
electrolysis: a good 12-15k at least
srs: I paid around 9-10K when I did my surgery with Brassard
BA: around 4K

My costs are off I know, but I did these surgeries around 6-12 years ago depending on which one it was.

I always say if you want to do something bad enough one can always find a way. I suffered a good 40-50% drop in income when I transitioned, but I managed to come back to where I was income wise. It's all a question of attitude. If you look at the ts success page of Lynn Conway, most of the people on there either started very young or were successful and had the money to transition. It's sad, but it's reality.

[kariann330]

Im 30 and work thru a temp agency (till i hire in hopefully in 90 days) and i make a healthy $10/hr. Thankfully i don't have too many expenses because of living with my GF. To answer the question of funding i plan on using my attendance bonuses, profit share checks and saving from my weekly checks to fund my transition.
When it comes to time off, once i hire in ill get 2 weeks vacation and 5 sick days. On a plus side i can also get bonus days off every quarter with perfect attendance.
Also one nice thing about my company is regardless of time worked Saturday is paid at time and a half and Sunday is payed at double time. So needles to say ill be working as many weekends as possible lol.

[Lauren5]

I'm a bit under your target age range, but I thought I'd add my input.
I've been researching FFS and SRS, and find the costs to be in the 15k-20k range for both. VFS, I hope, won't be necesary, but some form of voice coaching will, which, I found out, my university's music department has opened up their voice tutors for transgender students as well, if you ask nicely. Hormones should cost $5-10 a month, depending on the dosages., as it's mostly covered by insurance. Laser treatment on the face should end up less than $1000.
Overall, the cost of transition would be $35-45000, likely. Considering that's 2 years at school (which, for now, is covered by dad,) I could likely take out a loan as a student to get a better rate, as an alternative to a payment plan, which, as far as I've seen, most doctors don't do.
To not miss school, I plan to have FFS over a winter or summer break, and SRS over summer break. Which ones, I don't know yet, that all depends on how long I'm going to be gatekept.

EDIT: I plan on attaining a computer science/studio art degree, so hopefully I can make that money back within a few years, since it's a booming field with a great pay.

[Ginny]

Technically by education I'm a mechnical engineer. By profession I work in IT.

Hurray, I'm not the only engineer!  I'm in the job hunting phase and trying to find companies with "hospitable" work environments. I can't wait to graduate in May!

EDIT: Luckily most of the well known companies I've been applying to have gender and sex orientation in their discrimination policies.

[Ltl89]

I'm 24.  I started my transition while unemployed, but I had saved up money from scholarships and my previous work.  That allowed me to get by and without too many issues.  Now I work for a medical practice as an office assistant.  My income isn't amazing for where I live (which has a very insane cost of living), but I do what I can and have the privilege of living at home.  I'd rather not disclose my salary, but I'm making above some of the hourly figures that were quoted and feel like I'm doing "okay" for my age.  While it could be better,  it could be worse too.  Hope that gives you enough of an idea without me having to get into specific personal details.  Also, just as a disclaimer, money isn't everything in life (though I acknowledge it is an important aspect of it).

So far, my transition has probably cost me around $2,000.  This is only for therapy, hrt, endocrinologist, bloodwork and one session of laser.  Most of the costs come from insurance denial of bloodwork and inflated bloodwork bills.  There was also a period where I had to pay out of pocket for some expenses without insurance.  Now that I have insurance again and a job, my transition has been one of the least costly aspects in my life.  Things like FFS, SRS and any other surgeries are very hard for me to imagine at the moment.  Besides my transition, I have more pressing expenses like general rent at home, car insurance, and other bills I have to deal with.  To be honest, the only surgery I will probably have is SRS and I'll likely have to take out a loan for it.  In the meantime, I save what I can because I need to get that done sometime in the future.  I'm also considering getting some work done on my nose, but I want to hold off on that until I'm certain and I get everything else out of the way.   Right now, I'm just saving for SRS, possible grad school costs (which I would like to attend someday in the not too distant future) considering work on my nose, and paying off a laser payment plan as well as the rest of my bills.  Things like voice surgery, FFS and BA are not in my cards.  To be honest, I don't really feel like I require FFS or BA and voice surgery is just too scary for me.  So, the only transition related bills that exists in my future is SRS, possible nose work, and laser.  At the end of the day, I don't know how much it will all be, but I will find a way to pay off what I need.  I just may need to focus on my main priorities and give myself time to pay off the more costly parts of my transition.  The hardest part about being broke is that you have to wait longer, but it can get done if you work hard and save all that you can.  You just need some determination and need to make some sacrifices.  And luckily my insurance covers all my main transition bills without any copay.  So, I have the ability to save up and get the important stuff done in time. 

I should note the biggest expense I face is the general cost of living in my area.  If I lived somewhere other than NY, life would probably be a lot easier.  Remember, transitioning is only part of your overall costs. 

Hope this helps.   

[Alainaluvsu]

I transitioned to full time the day I was fired (someone broke into my company truck and stole my laptop ... honestly I think I was fired for being "gay" since the owner was a hard core baptist). That was in May 2012. When that happened, I owned my own trailer and all I had for bills was about $600-$800 a month for groceries, utilities, gas, etc. Since I was being gendered as female when representing myself in boy mode, I went ahead and changed my name legally (which, with the help of an attorney friend of mine, only costed $80) and began living full time.

I lived on unemployment / student loans while spending about $800 on laser, and about $150 a month for labs, dr visits, and HRT. I was given a bag of womens clothes to take to Goodwill by my former employer a few years ago and decided to stash them for when I transitioned. Well, between my mom helping me with clothes and me spending some of my life savings, I bought probably $600 worth of a new wardrobe.

A few months later (September 2012) I was evicted from my mobile home park for no reason given (they wanted to get rid of mobile home owners and bring in rentals). I decided to sell my mobile home and move to a more accepting city. It costed me about $2000 to up and move all my stuff 300 miles away (I think this counts toward transition). The gold mine? The city I moved to offers medicaid to me as I go in for a trans related doctor visit. Medicaid has paid all of my doctors visits and lab work.

Back in July, my situation with my roommate went sour (he started getting violent). I was still unemployed, but a friend of mine offered a place to stay rent free. Along with that perk, was all the free estrogen I need (she's on the VA plan and switched to patches, but had 3 or 4 vials of E left before switching). As luck would have it, 2 days after I moved in with her I landed a job in a call center for a group of surgeons (and relieve work the front desk when they're absent). I don't make a bunch of money, but I'm a few dollars an hour short of where I was when I was terminated in 2012. Best of all, they absolutely love me! I do not fear for my job for once. I'm not yet eligible for health insurance yet, but it's with a company that is widely known to cover SRS.

I'm a big believer in "if things were meant to happen, they will happen". As luck would have it, I'm an only child. My mother doesn't want to retire alone and wants to have me looking after her as she gets older. She is going to sell her $250,000 house (which she will pocket about 60 grand in equity), buy a trailer outright, and buy a 150-200k house for me to live in down here until she retires in a few years. With me working, pulling in a roommate, and her with absolutely no debt, we plan to have the house paid for (or close to it) by the time she retires in 4-7 years. The best part? If I cosign on the loan, I could be eligible for a state grant that would give me up to $65,000 for being a first time home owner in my city. All I need to do is live in the house for 10 years.

This should get my bills back down to around $500-$800 a month. Since my deductible for my possible medical insurance is $2500 in network, I could be looking at getting SRS very soon. FFS is currently not in my plans, but if I can afford it one day, why not?

To say the least, I've lucked out along the way. I really count my blessings every single day.

[Tristan]

im 27.  i think my FFS cost like 13K or something like that and my GRS was probably like 10K? and im a nurse/paramedic. people in both jobs know as i have known them forever even when i was little. the fire house can go like that. and two nurses i work with are sorority sisters so they found out during the truth ceremony

[KateConnors]

I'm 35 and started taking HRT when I was 32....wow 3 years ago already.  I haven't had SRS yet, though it's likely next year if I can get my butt in great into picking a surgeon and kick starting the electrolysis down there.

Biggest cost for me has been facial hair removal, which was $1800 on laser and probably $5000-6000 on electrolysis .  Thankfully that cost is all but done now.  Apart from that, about $2000 on therapist visits, and $15 a month on my HRT prescriptions ($5 each for estradiol, prometrium and spironolactone).  I'm fortunate that my employer's health insurance covers the endocrinologist visits as well, and as of January 1st will cover SRS as well.

I work as a parallel computing software engineer for a Silicon Valley based company, companies in the 'Valley tend to have very progressive, pro-trans insurance policies

[suzifrommd]

I'm a bit old for you - 52 - but in the interest of fighting agism, I'll answer anyway. 

I'm a school teacher. I was a software engineer for many years. We don't spend a lot of money, so we had some money put away. A lot of that went to divorce lawyers, but there is enough left over that, barring the unforeseen,  I should be able to pay for for SRS when the time comes.

[ganjina]

Hey there, this is how it works for me: I just turned 24, got my degree and started working a couple years ago by making my own webdesign and advertising company that I still work at, and with that I asked for a big loan with which I intend to pay some 20k USD needed for HRT, FFS, and maybe other cosmetically stuff like fat graft or breasts, depending on how HRT goes, traveling expenses and insurance. Now I am trying to work more and more time on my company so I can also save money, travel a bit, buy some games, eat cooler stuff, etc. I have lived on my own since 14 or 15, and my GF helps me with the expenses as I've been living with her for nearly 3 years now.

[Eva Marie]

I'm a bit old for you - 52 - but in the interest of fighting agism, I'll answer anyway. 

Same here - I'm 51. Can I play?

I work in IT and I'm fortunate enough to both live in California and work for a small company where the senior management team is entirely female. I'm not really sure how they will take it when I come out at work, but I'm hoping that as females they will be more empathetic than some alpha male management types might, and that they will still see me as a valuable resource that they want to keep around.

With that said I'm coming off a previous period of interrupted employment and high expenses and i've got stacks and stacks of bills to pay. So I'm just paying for my transition one day at a time as things come up and I'm trying not to think about the total eventual cost. Some things like GRS and FFS may just have to wait, or go by the wayside if the money is not there. I have looked female for all of my life and no one is going to know what's in my pants so I can accept the idea of no FFS/GRS if that is what it's going to be.

As a chick I know that I will have to work twice as hard for half of what I used to make so I can't coast on my past male achievements any longer; it's back to school time for me. Hopefully this old dog can learn a few new tricks.

[sarahb]

I'm a software engineer and was lucky to get my career going young, around 19-20. That's around the time I started transitioning, so with my salary along with freelance work I was able to fund what I wanted. I'm now 28 and my career has only progressed, so funding things has never been an issue luckily.

I'm so grateful that I was suited for this industry as it pays very well and comes with it a lot of flexibility with regard to working hours, time off, etc.

[Elainagirl59]

Hi,

I am an older transitioned so my financial plan doesn't apply... (Borrow money against a life insurance policy)

The big thing that jumped out at me in your post is that you are probably significantly under
estimating recovery times for the procedures.  That is probably the last thing you want to hear, when trying
to figure a way to finance transition.  But I think it is a reality.

Best Wishes,
Elaina

[Oriah]

I'm 23, and a full time farmer and mom.  I manage enough to cover hormones, but I will never be able to afford VFS, FFS, or SRS.  Even if I could though, I wouldn't.  I don't need FFS or VFS, and SRS seems like a really bad idea.

[Ginny]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. My primary concern was/is getting time off of work. I figured given enough time (28 in April) I'd be able to save up enough. Wish me luck finding a great company to work for! As of right now I'm planning for a Trachea Shave, SRS, and VFS. I'll probably start hormones in a month or two, so that I'll have about 5months before graduating.

[Missy~rmdlm]

I am age 36. I may not fully disclose my government worker position. It is technical and operations oriented. Previous employment included, UPS, truck driving, retail, and temporary jobs. I do expect SRS will be covered through my employment insurance, but it is not a done deal. For now, my insurance has covered therapy and HT. It is known and that after getting SRS and vesting my pension, I will consider moving to a new area. I will seek a new job, in my new region, of a similar type.
Edit added: I have accrued 490 hours paid sick leave which will cover SRS nicely.