Please keep an open mind.

[kelly_aus]

Ahh, typical, the 'I've therapy before and I don't need it' schtick. The 'Me,me,me,me,me,me!' schtick..

You realise that even Informed Consent places will assess you, right? And they can choose not to take you as a patient?

It took me 4 months to start HRT - and the WPATH Conference (which both my therapist and gyno went to) and the Christmas/New Years period fell that time. And, frankly, I don't know anyone here in Adelaide who has waited as long as you claim.

Oh, and if you want to complain about the lack of therapists and doctors, blame the State Government and the 'Gender Reassignment Act' - not the medics..

And one other thing, I'm on waiting lists for treatment in Vic, as I plan to move there this year.. It's looking like I might need to keep travelling back and forth for a little while - the waiting lists there are truly horrendous, even for those of us already on HRT..

Sometimes I wonder if Canada is the only civilized place concerning HRT, and gender in general. Most endos here work on informed consent, or if they demand therapy, one or two visits ought to do it. I feel sorry for you girls who thru' geography, or outdated medical practices, are made to jump thru' hoops to obtain what is universally known as proven therapy. Do medical gatekeepers not know that to someone suffering from GD badly enough to seek treatment, that even a few months can be critical?
When I approached my Dr. about HRT, I expected the runaround. When he said 'Sure, let's go ahead with HRT', I was taken aback. I asked him about gatekeepers. He had some interesting responses.
-In a time that ten year olds can order HRT over the internet, the gatekeeper has become obsolete.
-HRT is a diagnostic tool. If it turns out you are NOT TS, you will not like it, and stop.
-With the information avail. on the net, most patients walk in with an excellent knowledge of dosages, effects, and side effects. Most TS's know more about hormones than GP's.
-Most Doctors, even in remote areas, know that the most common side effect of NOT prescribing HRT, is suicide.
It is time for medicine to catch up to common sense. Doctors who are reluctant to prescribe are usually doing it out of social/religious pressures, not sound medical knowledge.

Paula, 3 therapy visits is hardly onerous.. Seriously. The wait here lists are not as she claims, although I have no doubt she was told they were long - I know I was. I'm fairly certain my gyno knows more about HRT than me, as educated as I am, she's published in peer-reviewed medical jourmals. As mentioned in my comment to the OP, we also have some state law here that complicates things.

[stephaniec]

I have been thinking a lot about transition and the wait for psych assessment.

I have a few issues with transition in my country (Australia). Over here you have to wait a very long time to start HRT.
This might be well and good for some of us but to be blunt, I don't need a therapist to tell me who I am or sort out anything they feel needs to be sorted. Don't get me wrong, this is not an attack on therapy or anyone who attends therapy however it is not for me, I have never been a fan of seeing a therapist and don't really plan on making it a regular occurrence although if it is required for me to transition I don't have much of a choice.

Now to get to my question, has anyone ever gone through an online therapist or gone through the trouble to go overseas for informed consent? Can you even do something like that? it's not that I have a huge issue with waiting 2 or 3 months but over that? Give me a break. I have seen girls get their HRT in the US after their first appointment or 2. I don't think Australia has informed consent for this..  Please correct me if I'm wrong.. Also I am extremely sorry if this offends anyone, that's not my intention. I am just trying to explain how I feel and how I see things. I am completely comfortable in who I am, I don't need a therapist to tell me what I can and can't do or should and shouldn't do. I hope you ladies will understand what I'm trying to say. If you are for therapy, against it or even neutral, your insight would be welcomed with open arms. After all, we're here to support each other, discuss issues and all that other stuff us girls talk about. We're all different.

I don't know I guess I'm weird I love therapy. It would bum me out if I realized I was transgender and had to wait a long time to get medicine. For me ,I was in therapy for painful depression all my life. I never been closer to suicide than at that moment. The doctors got me to admit to myself I was a transgender   and I immediately started HRT. It happened so fast I didn't know what hit me, But I'm a happy little camper.

[Emmaline]

Three sessions for me too (sydney).  But before I had a psychiatrist who was not experienced in the field who claimed to be.  He said it would be a long therapy process and take many sessions.  Git.

  Make sure you have a gender therapist.  Start laser you will feel heaps better.

Australia does need a better model.  The fact we need surgery to change our gender marker is embarrassingly archaic.

[kelly_aus]

Australia does need a better model.  The fact we need surgery to change our gender marker is embarrassingly archaic.

Actually, we don't need to have surgery to change gender markers.. What we need is for the High Court to enforce it's decision in states other than WA.. It should be doable in any state, provided you are willing to fight the fight - there's existing precedent, so it's unlikely to be a long case..

Also, on the strength of a letter from my therapist, various government agencies have corrected my gender marker.. My passport ID's me as female.. Tax Office. Medicare, Centrelink, you name it..

The only thing that still ID's me as male is my birth cert - the one document I never, ever use... And until same sex marriage is legal in Aus, I have no interest in changing my BC - it will enable me to marry the woman I want.

[Freyjja]

Okay Kelly, that's your opinion. We are all different.

However, it is not "me, me, me" shtick. I never once said it's all about me and that I should get what I want instantly now. I also never complained about the lack of therapists here. How you choose to interpret my words is your problem, not mine. I'm just saying I don't need therapy. Some people do, some people don't and I should be able to make that choice on my own accord. I have not once blamed anyone in my post.

Everyone has a different waiting time, sure but I have been told a 3 month wait for a psych appointment and each therapy appointment roughly a month apart. 

[kelly_aus]

Everyone has a different waiting time, sure but I have been told a 3 month wait for a psych appointment and each therapy appointment roughly a month apart.

Got told exactly the same thing..

[Freyjja]

Yes but have you ever considered you just got lucky? All different things depend on how long we have to wait.

[sam79]

Okay Kelly, that's your opinion. We are all different.

However, it is not "me, me, me" shtick. I never once said it's all about me and that I should get what I want instantly now. I also never complained about the lack of therapists here. How you choose to interpret my words is your problem, not mine. I'm just saying I don't need therapy. Some people do, some people don't and I should be able to make that choice on my own accord. I have not once blamed anyone in my post.

From someone much further down the road, you're about to embark on the biggest social, physical and mental change of your life. To categorically say you don't need therapy seems a bit strange considering you've not even begun to experience those changes.

There's just so many benefits to having a TG psychologist to work with. Why anyone would see this as a problem or hindrance is beyond me. Note, I'm not talking about approval/referral for HRT here, rather other therapy needs.

Just seems silly not to take all the help you can get.

[Freyjja]

@Sammy - I can not relate to this because I have always had really long hair, worn make-up and certain female clothing. I was mistaken for and called a female a lot of the time so the social transition isn't anything new to me really. I grew up very much being who I wanted to be without saying "I'm a girl" or any of that. On top of that I am not a social person. I have a best friend and a family, that's pretty much all I need. I'm in a happy place in life, I really don't see me needing to pay someone to listen to me talk. Therapy is helpful for some, I'm not saying it isn't, It is just not my cup of tea.

I'll say again, I hope no one is offended. This is just my opinion and how I feel about myself, not others.

[sam79]

@Sammy - I can not relate to this because I have always had really long hair, worn make-up and certain female clothing. I was mistaken for and called a female a lot of the time so the social transition isn't anything new to me really. I grew up very much being who I wanted to be without saying "I'm a girl" or any of that. On top of that I am not a social person. I have a best friend and a family, that's pretty much all I need. I'm in a happy place in life, I really don't see me needing to pay someone to listen to me talk. Therapy is helpful for some, I'm not saying it isn't, It is just not my cup of tea.

I'll say again, I hope no one is offended. This is just my opinion and how I feel about myself, not others.

In this case I wish you the very best in your journey. I'm sure you know that HRT is still going to make some profound mental changes. Don't underestimate them .

xx

[Freyjja]

Thank you very much I wish you the best also!
I really am thankful for all of the help I have gotten here in such a short time.
I completely agree about the mental/physical changes and I'm ready to face them head on~

[Northern Jane]

Way back in "the bad old days" I knew I was TS from the first time I heard the term and was living part-time en femme by age 14. I was "officially diagnosed" in a 15 minute appointment by Dr. Benjamin in 1966 at the age of 16 but it took another year to find a sympathetic doctor - partly because I was under legal age (21). At 17 the doctor (a gynecologist) started HRT on the second visit - after a blood test. I never saw a therapist but was referred for a "psychological assessment" to determine my 'sanity' to make the decision to have surgery years before surgery was even possible. I KNEW where I needed to be and I guess it was obvious because I was at every door waiting for it to open! I did okay.

If I were caught up in today's world of 'gatekeepers' I doubt I would have survived! But then I was absolutely certain and was forever pushing the limits.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

I wonder what would happen if there were no control measures in place and people in the West could buy hormones over-the-counter  at their local pharmacy ? Like what happens in many Asian countries...

I wonder 

Whilst some no doubt would self-regulate(do the right thing in order to safe guard their health) for others it might end up becoming a free for all pill popping party with deadly consequences ...

Metta Zenda

[Jenna Stannis]

To be honest, I'm glad that hormones aren't just available over the counter. While it's more or less just a formality in Australia, I liked that I had to go through a GP, gender therapist and endo. It was a relatively brief journey, but I learnt and discovered a lot of things that I would not have had I just bought hormones OTC.

[sam79]

To be honest, I'm glad that hormones aren't just available over the counter. While it's more or less just a formality in Australia, I liked that I had to go through a GP, gender therapist and endo. It was a relatively brief journey, but I learnt and discovered a lot of things that I would not have had I just bought hormones OTC.

+1

[Jenna Stannis]

To be honest, I'm glad that hormones aren't just available over the counter. While it's more or less just a formality in Australia, I liked that I had to go through a GP, gender therapist and endo. It was a relatively brief journey, but I learnt and discovered a lot of things that I would not have had I just bought hormones OTC.

And while this likely doesn't apply to the OP, those few months allowed me a bit of a cooling off period. When I first came out to my partner (which ended really badly), I went into a kind of trans-mania. I was talking about getting SRS as soon as I could. I wanted to get laser hair removal. I wanted to go out in public as a female. I was wondering where to start with FFS. I wanted hormones. And I wanted all these things immediately. You get the picture. But as I pushed through three tiers health professionals, I began to calm down, smell the roses and get back to a more rational mental state. Suddenly there was no rush to become female overnight. I proceeded with HRT and loved it, but I realised that my journey may not be the same as others who do want to go down the road of full transition. Part of the realisation that I didn't want to take this journey (at least not right now) was because I had a chance to talk to people, get answers to questions that I would never have thought to ask and, basically, just talk through my particular situation. I'm off HRT now (after two separate 6-month stints), but I imagine that I will get back on them again in the near future. I guess that's just me, stuck somewhere between genders and trying to find my way. I'm just glad that I had some time to work that out.

[Sir Wafflinton]

@Sir Wafflinton - I get the "who would stay" xD I used to live in Townsville as a kid xD haha
I did read about a man called Dr Darren Russell on Cairns. Really? I see would you mind telling me more? I am not apposed to travel would she also write for an endo or not?   

Townsville, ouch, that makes sunny Bris Vegas look like San Fransisco in terms of queer acceptance XD

Dr Darren Russell is the guy. I never met him in person but we had some email correspondence and he seemed like a really nice man who genuinely cares about the community. Sorry but I can't tell you any more about Dr Bisshop because I saw her when I was under 18 so she wouldn't treat me (hearing those words were like taking a baseball bat to the stomach, I can tell you that). I have just heard good things about her from other people I know. It might make sense to search her up and give them a call about your own specific concerns.

[Freyjja]

Haha, you're telling me! xD

I see, thanks a lot for your help! I'll definitely do some research
I can imagine, that would be an awful thing to hear!

[helen2010]

And while this likely doesn't apply to the OP, those few months allowed me a bit of a cooling off period. When I first came out to my partner (which ended really badly), I went into a kind of trans-mania. I was talking about getting SRS as soon as I could. I wanted to get laser hair removal. I wanted to go out in public as a female. I was wondering where to start with FFS. I wanted hormones. And I wanted all these things immediately. You get the picture. But as I pushed through three tiers health professionals, I began to calm down, smell the roses and get back to a more rational mental state. Suddenly there was no rush to become female overnight. I proceeded with HRT and loved it, but I realised that my journey may not be the same as others who do want to go down the road of full transition. Part of the realisation that I didn't want to take this journey (at least not right now) was because I had a chance to talk to people, get answers to questions that I would never have thought to ask and, basically, just talk through my particular situation. I'm off HRT now (after two separate 6-month stints), but I imagine that I will get back on them again in the near future. I guess that's just me, stuck somewhere between genders and trying to find my way. I'm just glad that I had some time to work that out.

JS
Similar experience. After aggressive FFS and hrt I slowed down.  Met a broader range of counsellors and members of the tg community while continuing with electrolysis and laser.  Even removed some breast growth.  Now my emotional and physical transition feel in sync, relationships are sound and I feel in control and a whole lot more authentic.  I am not sure that I feel stuck between 2 genders, rather that I am deciding who I am, how I present and how I will occur to myself and to others.  Perhaps I will binarise, but even if I don't then I will still be in a much richer and happier place.
Also agree that Australia, while better than most, still provides less support than is required by our community.

[Jenna Stannis]

Australia, while better than most, still provides less support than is required by our community.

I think that's true of any Australian health sector, which is currently stretched to breaking point. And I don't see it getting any better under the current government (even though health is a so-called "state issue").