Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'd rather not get into the details but i was recently given $10,000, that i can pretty much do whatever i want with. Mind you, none of it is going toward my transition, on the exception of buying a few clothes. But i do plan to use the remaining funds to find a gender therapist in my area so i can at least start HRT.

But i was just wondering, is $10,000 really and realistically enough for a decent-quality transition? Breast implants aren't included. I refuse them!

Oh, and i pre-apologize if this isn't the right forum for this thread.

Although it varies GRS in the USA or Canada is about $20K

I'm assuming you're in the U.S. where insurance typically covers next to nothing.

The cost of transition is different for everybody and depends on what exactly you want to accomplish. If you want to do a lot, then unfortunately $10,000 won't be enough. :( But it definitely puts you in a good position to get started with your transition.


Hormones and Therapy: This is covered under most insurance plans, and my copays and prescription costs end up being about $20 a month.

Facial and body hair removal: If laser works for you, it can be as cheap as $1,000 to get your beard removed. If you have to go electrolysis though, that alone can cost $10,000-$20,000 depending on the density of it. HRT eventually will help a lot with body hair, but if you have particularly thick or dense body hair and don't want to wait the years that it can take, you're looking at another few thousand dollars for laser.

SRS: Depending on the surgeon, anywhere from $10k-$25k

Facial feminization surgery: This depends heavily on the surgeon and the amount of work needed. It can cost anywhere from $5k for just minor work to $50k or even more if you want major revisions.

I sent my $10K to Cindy in a brown paper bag like she specified, she assures me I'll be treated well.  >:-)

$10,000 is a very good start. Some of us started with nothing, and we still have almost twice that.

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on September 29, 2013, 09:18:32 PM
I sent my $10K to Cindy in a brown paper bag like she specified, she assures me I'll be treated well.  >:-)

I bought the two bricks to do the orchie, do you want anesthesia as well?

Quote from: Beth Andrea on September 29, 2013, 09:21:11 PM
$10,000 is a very good start. Some of us started with nothing, and we still have almost twice that.

Let's see, naught times naught equals....unintelligible mumbling......carry the naught........scratching head.....I dunno!

Quote from: Cindy on September 29, 2013, 09:23:26 PM
I bought the two bricks to do the orchie, do you want anesthesia as well?

Um, Beth! Cindy is here to see you!

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on September 29, 2013, 09:18:32 PM
I sent my $10K to Cindy in a brown paper bag like she specified, she assures me I'll be treated well.  >:-)

She wanted my money in a burlap sack with a dollar sign on it... Am i being had?

Quote from: Hideyoshi on September 30, 2013, 11:48:44 AM
She wanted my money in a burlap sack with a dollar sign on it... Am i being had?

I'm sure you'll be treated well, too. I hear Cindy is moving her office to Hawaii.

Quote from: Cindy on September 29, 2013, 09:23:26 PM
I bought the two bricks to do the orchie, do you want anesthesia as well?

She should have called me. I'd have at least brought a bottle of decent vodka and a scalpel for 5k.


Per the topic..10k isenough to do some things. HRT can be started, some beard zapping, clothes for sure. Get fab~

Quote from: Cindy on September 29, 2013, 09:23:26 PM
I bought the two bricks to do the orchie, do you want anesthesia as well?

OMG! This was hilarious! :)

I started with a $5k shot of money. I did work though and as I drew money out I would put money back in. If you are very resourceful you can make $10k go a long way. Some thoughts for a budget minded transition:

1) find an electrologist school or sometimes community college. They will work on people for next to nothing or ridiculous rates (like $10/hour) since the work is done by students who need the practice.

2) I found the starting off on hrt was expensive considering I paid for it myself. The initial blood work and doctor visits were mighty expensive. I remember one bill for bloodwork was near $1,000.

3) buy clothes at goodwill. A new full timer doesn't need some fancy wardrobe to start. Buy cheap. It used to be a game for to find 5 outfits for work and spend less than $20 doing it. Most of what you start with you will end up throwing out after your first year once you start to figure out what works for you clothes wise.

4) spend $50 on a small tape recorder to do voice training

5) leave yourself a good $500 or so to cover name change expenses. Some places were really fussy and required a court stamp and that was like $10-20 for something off a freaking xerox machine with a stamp.

6). If you want srs then make sure you have enough therapy to cover the expenses of getting the 2 letters needed for surgery.

7) get your srs or FFS when you can afford it. It's not just the surgery, it's getting there, getting home, downtime after surgery costs of aftercare etc.

Just my $.02

Hmm... I've probably spent about $10k so far and that's completely pre-op, pre breast aug. That said, I'm really happily transitioned and very comfortable in my life.

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on September 29, 2013, 09:18:32 PM
I sent my $10K to Cindy in a brown paper bag like she specified, she assures me I'll be treated well.  >:-)

HA!  :D You guys really crack me up. I love y'all.

Quote from: Zumbagirl on September 30, 2013, 01:34:38 PM
I started with a $5k shot of money. I did work though and as I drew money out I would put money back in. If you are very resourceful you can make $10k go a long way. Some thoughts for a budget minded transition:

1) find an electrologist school or sometimes community college. They will work on people for next to nothing or ridiculous rates (like $10/hour) since the work is done by students who need the practice.

2) I found the starting off on hrt was expensive considering I paid for it myself. The initial blood work and doctor visits were mighty expensive. I remember one bill for bloodwork was near $1,000.

3) buy clothes at goodwill. A new full timer doesn't need some fancy wardrobe to start. Buy cheap. It used to be a game for to find 5 outfits for work and spend less than $20 doing it. Most of what you start with you will end up throwing out after your first year once you start to figure out what works for you clothes wise.

4) spend $50 on a small tape recorder to do voice training

5) leave yourself a good $500 or so to cover name change expenses. Some places were really fussy and required a court stamp and that was like $10-20 for something off a freaking xerox machine with a stamp.

6). If you want srs then make sure you have enough therapy to cover the expenses of getting the 2 letters needed for surgery.

7) get your srs or FFS when you can afford it. It's not just the surgery, it's getting there, getting home, downtime after surgery costs of aftercare etc.

Just my $.02

Well, your $0.02 was really valuable and appreciated and informative. It really helped. Thanks!

Quote from: abbyt89 on September 29, 2013, 09:15:57 PM
I'm assuming you're in the U.S. where insurance typically covers next to nothing.

The cost of transition is different for everybody and depends on what exactly you want to accomplish. If you want to do a lot, then unfortunately $10,000 won't be enough. :( But it definitely puts you in a good position to get started with your transition.


Hormones and Therapy: This is covered under most insurance plans, and my copays and prescription costs end up being about $20 a month.

Facial and body hair removal: If laser works for you, it can be as cheap as $1,000 to get your beard removed. If you have to go electrolysis though, that alone can cost $10,000-$20,000 depending on the density of it. HRT eventually will help a lot with body hair, but if you have particularly thick or dense body hair and don't want to wait the years that it can take, you're looking at another few thousand dollars for laser.

SRS: Depending on the surgeon, anywhere from $10k-$25k

Facial feminization surgery: This depends heavily on the surgeon and the amount of work needed. It can cost anywhere from $5k for just minor work to $50k or even more if you want major revisions.

You know what? I'm feeling like I wanna devote the majority of my funds to FFS. The way I see it, when transitioning (primarily for M2Fs but I guess this works with F2M people too), the face and the voice are the most important things in a transition and I do wanna pass as female (well, duh! of course, that's a given. What trans person doesn't?) but I do want as high quality as a transition as possible so that it's at the point where people would've never guessed I was born male or people refuse to believe I was born male. I mean, granted, that could've very easily been accomplished had I got on HRT when I was like... in my preteens and not in my early 20s, but I wasn't one of the lucky few but better late than never some always say. But with the right money it can still be done.

I mean, everything else matters as well, but face and voice are key to passing as your preffered gender so I will put most of my trans funds on work on those two things.

I waited 8 years to have my son. It was a good idea, I enjoyed spending time with my wife just being a married couple.

Then one day we decided to have our son. The question of course was 'can we afford this?'.

Some will answer no and some will realize you never have enough.

I think the same can be said of transition.

I'm in Canada, and in Ontario and it is covered. So what. Transition is so many things. I'm just glad the surgery is off the list of worries. But there is laser like mentioned. And hmm a female ward robe from a standing start, that is not going to be cheap. All the usual make up and accessories. Then all the pros you end up seeing. And all the fringe expenses connected.

I am glad you have the 10k, but my advice, is to be tight fisted with it. Begrudge every penny of it eh.

As everyone says, it depends.

I'd say my transition cost about $5000 excluding GRS (which was a whopping $20K). Of course, I have insurance that covered a lot of it; in the US, that can make a huge difference.