I really need some help! Alot of questions!

[Kris]

I really need some help!!!

Okay, Let me say a little about myself first. I can talk like a guy and I look like a guy. I wear blinder to flatten my chest out and I'm packing. I mostly always use the guys bedroom and I have been like this now for a few years now. I do not like girls that are into girls I only like straight girls. As you can tell, that is a real problem! My family knows and so does my friends that I seek to one day become a man. I had to go through high school like this and I really don't want to start college without at least STARTING to becoming a man. I'm almost 20 and I'm ready to go more with this. I have no idea where to even start and little to no money. I know that I need money to be able to go all the way through but where do I even start out at? I haven't done anything. I haven't talked to anybody or anything. I just really want to be able to start becoming a man.

I'm sick of living like this. I just really want some help. I want to get started on T already but I don't know if I have to go through other things to get started on it. I know I need to talk to somebody before getting my T but how do I find them? I live in az about ready to move to iowa here in four to five months!

A lot of questions!!!!

I know I need to go through testosterone therapy but do I do after or before I do something else?
Is there anyway to find pretty cheap but good testosterone therapy?
I know they said it takes about two years? Is that correct?
So does that mean I cannot start taking my T for another two years?

I want to get my top surgery done as soon as I can afford it and hopefully get my bottom surgery done when I will be able to afford that one too and I was reading somewhere that they do not allow for me to get it done until I have been through therapy so I have to go through my Testosterone Therapy plus go through Therapy for getting my top surgery done then go through more therapy to get my bottom done or can I get all the therapy all done at once?
I was also wondering how long do I have to go through therapy? It is REALLY costly I looked up one price and I think they said 350 a hour for this one therapist. Do I have to do this every week for two years!?

Last question, does any insurance companies cover or (Help) cover the cost? If so, what are the name of some of these companies. I looked it up somewhere and it said that they don't but I was looking it up somewhere else and it they said there are some that do!

Sorry that was ALOT of questions! I would really like it if somebody could help me out in finding the right places or people to call.  Thank you so much to anybody that helps me out. I really appreciate it!!!

[Miniar]

The standards of care says three months. I have a poll here that'll show you what kind of timetable of when most of the boys got T: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,60702.0.html

The first step is to find a therapist, preferably one who has experience with transgender folk or even specializes in gender issues.
That's all I can really offer..
Being Icelandic all I know is what I've been told and I was told I would have to wait one year for T up here, and the general consensus amongst those trans ppl I know is "WTF?! that's excessive!!" so I doubt you've understood the two year thing all that well.
I think that that may have been a reference to how long some of the main changes of the body take once you've started taking T.

[Radar]

Well, I can only go off my experience so far and talking to other doctors. I'm seeing a psychiatrist and after three sessions and two psychological tests (all in about one month) he says I'm ready for T. He sent me his approval letter to give to the endocrinologist today. So basically I was permitted to go on T after a month, it just took time to find an endo. I still plan on seeing my psychiatrist again, at least until I come out to my family. I'll need help with that. My insurance paid for the test and pays for my sessions with him.

There's only one endo in my area that will prescribe T to transmen and he's not on my insurance, so I'm going to have to pay out-of-pocket. His prices are decent though and supposedly my insurance will cover the blood tests. How long it will take to get on T through the endo I don't know yet.

From the different doctors I've talked to who do top surgery you don't need to already be on T to get it done. Most do ask for a letter of approval from a doctor- I'm assuming from a psychiatrist/therapist and/or GP.

[myles]

I also started T very shortly after seeing a gender therapist very few times. I went to an ND and was on T about 1 week after my first visit, had to wait for the labs to come back.Nothing is covered by my insurance company not even the blood tests. Fortunately they have not cost too much to date, the T is about $60 for 4 months worth and the blood tests to date have cost a total of maybe $300. I did try and bill them to my insurance company so I could get their lower rates. I know some insurance companies do cover costs of transitioning.
Cheers,
Myles

[Radar]

What is the name of the insurance company do you go through? If you don't mind me asking. Thanks too by the way, very helpful!

I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina through work.

[kody2011]

I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina through work.

i just got off that insurance...my dad had it through his work, but i'm at that age where they kick you off....can you get on it as an individual or does it have to be through a company?

[Radar]

i just got off that insurance...my dad had it through his work, but i'm at that age where they kick you off....can you get on it as an individual or does it have to be through a company?

You can get an individual policy, if you can afford the costs and be accepted. Insurance companies now-and-days will deny personal coverage for just about anything. Then, if you are accepted, you still have the 1 year pre-existing BS if your continuing insurance coverage has lapsed.