RLE maybe not as essential as originally thought? {article}

[NicholeW.]

In the final throw it all comes down to this: if you are going to transition, you will BE fulltime at the end of whatever process you decide to follow through with. You may wish to get hair-clearance, hrt, bas, ffs, etc first. But, finally if you transition at all you will be, perforce, full-time in the sex you were not designated on your original BC.

When one starts that would be a matter of choice. Where it ends is not a matter of choice if you are going to complete a transition.

Nichole

[Ms.Behavin]

I have mixed feeling on the RLE.  When I finally started my transition, I did not see a need for RLE as gee I knew who I was.  It is in part a gatekeeper thingy. Doing RLE without or before hormones is just crazy. 

Yet in that year of RLE it did give me time to loose the guy and find the girl or just be myself as my formal SO said. So I think there is some value to doing RLE, or I found it so anyway.  Though saying it has to last at least a year, is bogus.  For some it might be 6 months for others 2-3 years. 

Some might not need it at all,  Gee we're all different and its not one size fits all.

Beni

[Janet_Girl]

For me RLE is just that, Real Life Experience, in other words the rest of your life in your true gender.

There is no better test than just life.  And let's face it, even if we were true to our birth genders, it is still pretty much OJT. 

So choosing to live as our true gender is OJT from square one.  We have nothing to base our experience on from our past.  We learn as we grow.  It is the only way.

Janet

[Kelli]

In my own case, I'm GLAD that I've had to wait. I'm 2 years into my transition now. Looking back, I really don't think that I was truly READY for surgery. I mean, I had transient impulse moments when surgery was all I could think about, but again, looking back, I wasn't ready.

I agree that everyone's needs are different.

I will say, however, that I don't believe that the RLE guideline was put in place to harm anyone. You figure, when the SOC were put in place, they didn't have any evidence or much experience to go on. So they err'd on the side of caution.

Just my .02 cents.

[Natasha]

from somewhere in the blogosphere:

Look for possible Real Life Tests of two years, possibly without hormones. And this is being done peremptory to enforce medical professional compliance with the upcoming DSM revision.

-cut-

If you are planning surgery, schedule it now, get your letters now, tomorrow may be too late.