How long is the real life expeirience?

[Jade_is_awesome]

And is it needed to get HRT?

[annette]

The RLE is nessecary to know or you can handle the life of living the other sexe role as where you were born in.
I don't know or it's needed for hrt, it's different by country.
But how long it takes, well the rest of your life.

hug
Annette

[JessicaR]

   The WPATH standards are a minimum of 3 months of gender-related therapy before one can be prescribed hormones. The "RLE" standard is one year of living in the appropriate gender role in all areas of your life without interruption. These are also the standards usually followed in the US but may be relaxed, depending on your doctor, surgeon and therapist.

   I do know that some countries require some amount of RLE before one can be prescribed hormones. (kindof backward if you ask me) What's interesting is that places who's health care system pays for the whole thing seem to have made patients jump through more hoops.

  Where in the world do you live?

[Jade_is_awesome]

   The WPATH standards are a minimum of 3 months of gender-related therapy before one can be prescribed hormones. The "RLE" standard is one year of living in the appropriate gender role in all areas of your life without interruption. These are also the standards usually followed in the US but may be relaxed, depending on your doctor, surgeon and therapist.

   I do know that some countries require some amount of RLE before one can be prescribed hormones. (kindof backward if you ask me) What's interesting is that places who's health care system pays for the whole thing seem to have made patients jump through more hoops.

  Where in the world do you live?

In New York

[girl_ashley]

The WPATH Standards of Care are not strict guidelines.  Talk with your care providers and see what they say.  I didn't need any "Real Life Experience", as you may define it, to start HRT and I didn't even go full time until a month and a half before surgery.  I also was able to start hormones within a month of seeing a therapist.  The only guideline I was asked to follow was a year on hormones before surgery.

I personally think you should be able to start hormones without RLE.  Just make sure you really convince your providers that you are ready and that you understand the risks and have REAL expectations of the charges you may experience once you start.  Surgery might be a tougher one to get approval for without some RLE.

[vanna]

I was tempted to reply for life because its a life change and not really some test even though some doc or therapist seem it so

It really is just accepting you self though and getting on with life as far as surgery goes though one year min with any of the big names even thailand has tightened its rules

Just be you self and do what works best for you small steps really do become large ones and sooner then you can think

Hug

[marte]

Where I live it's 2 years I think
But you can get started on HRT in the meanwhile. At least 1 year of counseling is required to get acces to HRT here.

[Anatta]

 
   I do know that some countries require some amount of RLE before one can be prescribed hormones. (kindof backward if you ask me) What's interesting is that places who's health care system pays for the whole thing seem to have made patients jump through more hoops.

  Where in the world do you live?

Kia Ora Jessica,

Here in Aotearoa [NZ] the government funds X amount of surgeries per every two years, and HRT is subsidised...However as far as jumping though hoops go, that part is only required if one wishes to be selected for government funding surgery, and I can understand the government position in that regards, they are using the tax payers coppers so want to make sure they are not wasting any of it...There was a flare up from the public a whiles back when a disgruntled possible candidate was knocked back because she didn't fit the criteria in place, so she decided to go public, and the " S" hit the public fan when they found out the government was paying for the surgeries of some... 

However HRT  on the other hand, for the most part is relatively easy to get, well it was when I first began my transitioned around 13 years ago, no RLE or anything like that was needed... We don't seem to be as strict as in the UK...

Metta Zenda