Does the pharmacy really need to know my gender?

[Arch]

Today I dropped off the prescriptions that my top surgeon wrote for me. When I got home from the night's activities, there was a message from the pharmacy on my answering machine. First, my insurance won't cover the meds. I expected that. Second, the pharmacy wants to verify my gender.

Do they really need this info? If I refuse to provide it, can they refuse to fill my prescriptions? I feel that I can't say male because I haven't changed my sex legally. I'm afraid that if I do say that I'm male, that info won't fit whatever they might have on file for me. Yet I feel that I can't say female because that isn't accurate. I guess I'm so close to changing my sex markers that the idea of self-identifying as female is just completely repugnant to me.

I would rather just have the pharmacy assume something and leave me out of it.

It seems so trivial, but I can't bring myself to call them up and say that I am a woman. Yet I have to have these meds so I can get the surgery that will allow me to become legally male. The bottom line is that I'll do what I must to get the meds, but I'm hoping I won't have to state my legal gender.

I plan to ask why they need this info, but I would rather know in advance--and not from them. I don't trust them. Does anyone know whether I'm required to disclose? I live in California, if that makes a difference.

[Miniar]

I don't think you're required, but I'd suggest telling them anyway. Both sex and gender.
Because there is "some" difference in the details between male and female bodies, small in fact.. but still, it can affect some medications.

[Teknoir]

You could just straight out ask them why they need it.

If they need it, then I suppose you could always explain, and let them fill in what they need.

They're working in a pharmacy - your situation is not going to be the most embarrassing one they've seen! Think about people buying pile cream, anti fungal cream, stool softener, personal lubricant, lice combs...

When I get dragged into that awkward question and I can't deflect, I deliver a short, slightly annoyed "My legal documentation still states female at this time".  I understand the loathing in having to own up to what the paperwork says. This way, people get an answer they can use, sometimes the point I am making, and I don't have to say that I am something that I am not.

[sneakersjay]

Maybe they just want it for their database for drug contraindications or interactions, or maybe they wanted it to match your insurance.  I don't recall my pharmacy asking me, though when I first started T I had my female name still and was getting Androgel.  When I changed my name I handed them my new script and new insurance card.  If they put 2 + 2 together, they never let on.


Jay

[Arch]

When I dropped off the scrips, the guy there never asked me my gender but apparently entered me as male (yay). My insurance card doesn't have a gender marker on it.

So I talked to a gal on the phone today; the problem is that my presentation doesn't match the gender that my insurance has on file. So I bit the freaking bullet and told her, "That's because I'm trans. I was presenting as male, but my paperwork says otherwise." She asked me whether I want to be listed as female so that I can use my insurance, and I said, "No, I don't want that, but I guess that's what has to happen for me to get covered."

I wanted to say, "**** that; I'm a guy, and I'll pay out of pocket." But I figured that once they saw that there was a disparity, the pharmacy would think of identity theft or something and start to hassle me about it.

She said she would call me back in a few minutes. That was two hours ago.

I'm wondering if I handled this situation badly. I guess I should have said that there was some mistake and that I was female all the way. But I just couldn't bring myself to say that.

[Miniar]

I think you handled it well, if she hasn't called back soonish, you should phone back yourself and make sure there's no problem.

[Teknoir]

I also think you handled that well. You found out why they needed the information, you supplied them with the information they needed, and you didn't say you were something that you were not. Mission successful! 

In the future you should have no problems updating them after your gender markers have changed, as they are now aware of why you'll be changing them again. I think you've socially set that up to go very smoothly.

[Arch]

I know that lots of people live in transition, in a sort of gender limbo, for years. I don't know how they do it. I suppose they have no choice. But here I am flapping around incoherently over one little event, and they just hold their heads up and keep on dealing with situations like these, day after day.

I have a lot of admiration for their strength of will.

I called the pharmacy back and discovered that my meds are ready and that the insurance covers it. So I guess nobody outed me to my insurance company. The pharmacy likely reported that they had made a mistake on my gender, and left it at that.

Best of all, I didn't have to claim that I'm something I'm not. That makes all the difference.

[Steph]

I think that of all the people in the world who should know about us, and who need to know about us are those who provide us with our medical care.  With doctors it's pretty hard to hide in fact your medical records will always list who and what you are, and the procedures you have had done.  Obviously the pharmacist doesn't need to know all of the details about you but they do need some things when it comes to the contraindications of medications he may dispense to you.  This does not apply to the pharmacy staff of course.

Remember that medical practitioners are compelled to protect the confidentiality of their patients/customers and as was mentioned above, they've seen far more stranger stuff that us.

-={LR}=-

[Arch]

In the future you should have no problems updating them after your gender markers have changed, as they are now aware of why you'll be changing them again.

I'm actually a bit worried about this. If I change my gender markers with my insurance provider, they'll know I'm trans. Wouldn't that give them the power to deny me certain types of tests and procedures that are now covered, thanks to my awesome doctor? Should I wait to change my markers till I'm covered by a different provider?

I should probably search for threads on this topic and perhaps start a new thread, now that I think about it.

[Mister]

You should wait until you have nothing female specific left to treat (i.e. after your hysto).

[Arch]

You should wait until you have nothing female specific left to treat (i.e. after your hysto).

Well, this is reasonable advice--and a lot of FTMs have told me to wait till after hysto--but it might be problematic for me. Unlike a lot of my friends who have had "female trouble," I have no health issues with my repro organs. They are in good shape, so their removal isn't automatically covered by insurance. I can't afford to cover it out of pocket. In addition, I like certain aspects of those parts and plan to keep them for a while. Maybe a LONG while.

My feelings could easily change once I am more fully transitioned, of course. I guess I'll have to think about it for a few months more. Or a few years more.

One thing about me: it often takes me ages to make a decision; but once I do, I want to take action immediately and have the situation completely resolved NOW. I hate being in limbo. The sedate pace of my transition has taught me a thing or two about patience: I don't have much.

[Mister]

The longer you keep your reproductive organs, the higher the possibility of some real life-threatening things to occur. 

[tekla]

The longer you keep your reproductive organs, the higher the possibility of some real life-threatening things to occur. 

In general, that's true if you keep them or not, the longer you live the greater the risk of life threatening stuff, one of which, will, in the end, get 'cha. 

[Arch]

The longer you keep your reproductive organs, the higher the possibility of some real life-threatening things to occur.

That would be true regardless of my transition--and thank the gods I'm not on estrogen therapy, as that would apparently raise the risk even higher. I have yet to do research on the aftereffects of hysto, but I've read a number of personal accounts of cisgender women who have had all sorts of problems after hysto that they didn't have before. I'm not sure whether these women are the exceptions to the rule; for all I know, the vast majority of women have no problems whatsoever. And, of course, a lot of women are emotionally attached to their repro organs, and their emotional state can affect their physical state. I don't know of many FTMs who feel so invested in their organs.

It appears that I have a lot of research and thinking to do in the coming months. But not now. Too much on my plate at the moment.

[Mister]

Yup, but atrophied, dead organs act as nothing but a sponge of bacteria.  The vagina/uterus is kept healthy by menstruating every month-- the lack of that means there is no means of keeping everything healthy.

[Arch]

Yup, but atrophied, dead organs act as nothing but a sponge of bacteria.  The vagina/uterus is kept healthy by menstruating every month-- the lack of that means there is no means of keeping everything healthy.

So all postmenopausal women are plummeting fast, on their way to the rocks below?

Anyway, I'm guessing that it takes a few years for the organs to reach an unappetizing state like this. In the meantime, where, if anywhere, is there good and accurate medical information about all of this? Anyone know of a good place to start?

[Miniar]

I was under the impression that this was not documented, researched nor proven yet.

[Mister]

So all postmenopausal women are plummeting fast, on their way to the rocks below?

Anyway, I'm guessing that it takes a few years for the organs to reach an unappetizing state like this. In the meantime, where, if anywhere, is there good and accurate medical information about all of this? Anyone know of a good place to start?

I always suggest Nick Gorton's book 'medical therapy for transgender men.'  it's a free PDF download.

post menopausal women aren't plummeting to the rocks below, but they're also not on testosterone.  we're atrophying our organs significantly faster than menopause would.  it took me less than 5 weeks for my ovulation to stop-- my mother's been perimenopausal for 2 yrs.

[tekla]

I'm just thinking here - and not doing some sort of tin hat medicine - but... there is an age, very young, like 25 or so, where the risks of doing invasive surgery outweigh the benefits, and the older you get, the more that's true.