Benefits of gender marker change

[Anne Blake]

Greetings All,

I have been cruising down this pathway of transitioning for a bit now. Most of the time it feels slow and then it feels too slow. I have been focusing on the things that I can control to maintain sanity. The big things on my list of to do's are; finishing electrolysis (in progress), hair transplant (in three weeks), RLE (four months into it), GCS (consultation in May), name change and gender marker change. The name feels big but for legal reasons it can't be done for a year or so. That leaves that gender marker. My hrt provider is more than willing to sign the needed paperwork, no problems. Drivers license and passport are quite doable. My question is the benefit of changing the marker while the name is so disconnected from either gender or looks. Will it be a net gain or risk when interfacing with authorities and more importantly, what does it do for personal feelings of well being. I won't know for me until I get it done but what has it done for those of you that changed your marker before your name change?

I will appreciate any inputs that you can offer,
Anne

[HappyMoni]

Anne,
   Hi Hon! I changed the name first and had to wait for the gender change. I know I am not answering your question but I can say that only changing one was very unsatisfying for me. I wasn't fulfilled until both were done. Because of the political climate, I am now wanting to push for birth certificate change. With that in mind, if laws change, your ability to change gender could be jeopardized. It might be safer to do it now. The name process would be unlikely to change.
Talk later Sweetie!
Moni

[patrick1967]

I am going to do the gender change ASAP. I finally got a new state ID (still listing F since I let the old one lapse and you can't do both steps at once) which will allow me to get the Birth Certificate updated as well as Social Security and my state ID. Name is more problematic because of the financial mess my divorce left me in, but I go by the masculine version of my birth name so for me that is not as big an issue. To me having the marker match the presentation is more important

[FTMax]

Legally, I would advise you to change your gender marker on as many documents as you can ASAP because your ability to do so in the future may be diminished. Of course, you may end up paying some fees twice to update again once your name is changed, but a name change is easy and easily accomplished without too much of a hassle in most states.

I changed my gender marker and name as soon as I could, because I wanted my transition to be over with as fast as possible. It feels good having everything on every form of ID congruent. If my name change had been delayed for some reason, I may have held off on the gender marker solely for financial reasons. If those financial reasons hadn't been present, I probably would've gone ahead and done it in advance.

[Anne Blake]

Hello Max, let me plead ignorance here. You mentioned getting gender marker changed on as many documents as possible, I am aware of drivers license, passport and birth certificate; what am I leaving out?

Anne

Oh, and social security

[patrick1967]

Anne, in the US also your Social Security records

[FTMax]

Those are the big ones! Just remember when you update with all of them, you have to update on any accounts that have your gender listed as well. Car insurance and health insurance are the big ones that I can think of.

[Anne Blake]

Thanks for all of your inputs. For some foolish reason I thought that all of the mental, emotional and physical aspects of transiting were going to be the confusing parts. It sure appears that the paper work may be toughest part of it all!

Thanks again,
Anne

[elkie-t]

I wouldn't, unless your old name isn't gender-neutral. Why paying twice?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lady Sarah]

The name feels big but for legal reasons it can't be done for a year or so. That leaves that gender marker. My hrt provider is more than willing to sign the needed paperwork, no problems. Drivers license and passport are quite doable. My question is the benefit of changing the marker while the name is so disconnected from either gender or looks.

It's probably none of my business why you cannot change your name, but you can change your gender marker. Such a conflict could cause confusion for anyone you must show documents to. Look at the laundry list of documents to change. The only advice I could offer, is that you give it a lot of careful consideration.

[Dani]

I changed my name and gender marker at the same time. In Florida, where I live, you need a letter from your SRS surgeon to change your gender marker on your drivers licence. Each state has their own requirements.

[annaqnguyen]

In Florida, where I live, you need a letter from your SRS surgeon to change your gender marker on your drivers licence.

Are you sure about that, because this page does not say that it has to be your "SRS surgeon".

[annaqnguyen]

Hello Max, let me plead ignorance here. You mentioned getting gender marker changed on as many documents as possible, I am aware of drivers license, passport and birth certificate; what am I leaving out?

Anne

Oh, and social security

There are also financial records (bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages, investment accounts, retirement accounts, property deeds, etc.), insurance policies, wills, and less important stuff like online profiles/accounts, frequent flyer accounts, etc.  If you are a naturalized U.S. citizen (i.e. not a natural born one), you might want to change your name/gender on the certificate of naturalization.

Credit records is another story.  There has been varying accounts on whether or not it's possible to change name/GM on those.  My experience is that it ranges from "jumping through a gazillion hoops" to "not possible".  For me, it has been sufficient to tell whoever to search for both my dead name and my new name.  One would think that credit record would be kept solely by one's SS number but apparently that is not the case.

[Dani]

Are you sure about that, because this page does not say that it has to be your "SRS surgeon".

You do not have to be post op, just undergoing care.

The doctor needs to state his medical licence and DEA number on the letter. So who else is going to do this?

Maybe you can have your primary care Physician write a letter.

[annaqnguyen]

You do not have to be post op, just undergoing care.

The doctor needs to state his medical licence and DEA number on the letter. So who else is going to do this?

Maybe you can have your primary care Physician write a letter.

The doctor supervising my HRT at the time I changed my name and GM was "just" a "normal" MD, not an endocrinologist nor a surgeon of any sorts.  I provided the practice with the doc's U.S. State Department's guideline for the letter, which requires that the doc's medical license or cert. number and licensing state be included.

My letter also included the doc's DEA registration number, which I'm pretty sure was required at the time, but the current U.S. State Department's guideline for such a letter no longer requires that.