Susan's Place Transgender Resources

My Dad says he'll take me to a female Doctor (since I do better with females for this kind of thing than males) to see if I'm intersex or not. This is a good thing and makes me very happy because then I might be able to put my suspicions etc. aside and would hopefully know whether I'm transgender or intersex but who do I see is the question? Here is what I'd like done and the type of doctor I want to see.

Want done:
1. Feeling my breasts to see if they have buds.
2. A mammogram to further confirm if they're female breasts or not
3. Anything else to see if I'm intersex or not
4. I'll just add a few possibilities here but maybe I need to get my insides/private checked? Maybe have a cat scan or something to see if my brain is female? (I read in article here on how MtF brains are female brains basically since they match female brains better than that of male brains) and anything else?
5. I was born with a deformity, I'd rather not say what kind but it involves my chest which further leads me to believe I'm intersex
6. What do you recommend I get done and what kind of insurance will cover any/all of this? Is there any insurance that's for the LGBT and is it easy to get and confidential etc.?

Doctor must be/do the following:
1. Not lie to me
2. Care about her patients
3. Be a female doctor
4. Know what the hell she's talking about and doing
5. Not discriminate against me or her patients and so on.
6 & 7. I forget but whatever they were.

So after reading all of the above what type of doctor do I need to see for this and do I need to see a regular doctor or a specialist? I hope insurance will cover it all and that there's one close by to me... :(
Also, I need to know something else here. Lets say I'm lucky and am intersex (Or unlucky if medical problems arise), isn't it easier to get all my legal documents/papers etc. changed to female if I'm intersex vs. transgender/transsexual and if so how much easier is it? Also, how would I do that? I'd rather not say what state I live in but I do live in the US.

Hopefully I'm not forgetting something here...  :-\

I don't know, but you can probably get a referral from your nearest hospital. That's how I got my therapist

Why do you think you're intersexed?

Well, you could probably see a regular doctor first because you'll need to go get blood drawn and analyzed somewhere else anyway. I might have Klinefelter Syndrome and I brought it up to my doctor and he knew a little about it. But I was referred to a lab to get my blood-work done, because they have to do a karyotype test to determine your chromosomal makeup. Unfortunately my insurance coverage ran out before I could get that done, so I still don't know. :/ But anyway I think this is the first thing you should do and you shouldn't worry about the rest of that stuff for now. If they determine that you are intersexed, the next steps will depend on what they recommend and what you want out of the diagnosis. But getting a brain scan of any sort would likely be a waste of money unless you're checking for suspected tumors or other problems.

In answer to your questions (in my opinion)

1, if you had "breast buds" you'd know. They are firm lumps directly under the nipple, they range in size from a small "pebble" to much larger. They would be very tender, pressing on them hurts. If you have lumps in your breasts, it always best to get them checked.

2, A mammogram won't confirm anything as, there is no such thing as male or female breasts. There is simply breast tissue. There is very little difference, men can nurse babies. This is a recorded fact. The only reason women are incouraged to have mammograms and not men is, the tissues in human breasts are sensitive to estrogenic cancers, men have a lot less estrogen therefore, a much lower incidence of breast tissue cancers.

3, there are a lot of different conditions classified as "intersex" or Disorders of sexual development. Many are chromosomal and can be detected by a karotype test however many are known as mosaic chromosomal disorders and are harder to detect. Many of these disorders are coupled with intellectual disabilities, infertility (often how they're discovered)
Disorders that are physically visible are usually operated on at birth, such as incomplete penile growth (particularly affecting the position of the urethral opening in "males" and fused/partially fused labia in "females" Undesende/bi-differentiated gonads (one ovary, one teste) However, your parents would have been informed of this when you were born, so you'd already have your answer.
4, a cat scan won't show anything like that I don't think...
5, by all means get your bits checked, it never hurts to have a checkup
6, I can't help there as we have socialized health care in my country, meaning health serivces are free, no insurance required.

Finally, I have no idea why you'd consider being intersexed as "lucky" A lot of those conditions aren't much fun for the people who have them.
Basically, don't look to simple physical biology to feel justified in who you are. It's unhealthy... And a bit offensive.

And while I'm at it, I doubt if they found any mild intersex condition it would help you transition. You'd still have to get prescribed hrt and have to satisfy a therapist for any corrective genital surgeries.

I would second what Isabelle said.  Intersex people also have their own struggles and many wouldn't consider themselves lucky for being born that way.  Many go through the same self esteem issues that trans people have with their bodies, but for different reasons. 

Why do you feel you are intersex?  Is there anything specific? 

Thanks, not sure whether any of what ya'll wrote/told me will be helpful or not since I know nothing about this, who to see for these tests and my Dad is the one wanting me to find out who and what kinds of tests I need to see/done.

As for me saying I "might" be lucky if I'm intersex. (Proving no problems arise that could kill/hurt me) I was only referring to what I believe is the case that, it'd be easier to get all my IDs etc. changed to state female instead of male. Really I already know who and what I am, a female. I just need to know if I'm trans or IS and my suspicions are because I look feminine, my voice is neutral (Though leaning towards male sadly), my T is low but still within range for males while my E is high however, it's clear the lvs are fluctuating since I had the same test repeated 2 times and my body reacts in situations like a female's body does and because I was born with a birth defect involving my breasts which caused me to be born with not two breasts and two nipples but two breasts and four nipples and the two nipples that aren't on my breasts (Since they didn't develop a 2nd chest/breast) have holes in them just like a female's breasts do where as the other two on my breasts don't have those holes in them and IF I'm not mistaken, males don't have holes in their nipples let alone like a woman's nipples do, or am I mistaken there?

@Isabelle: How much does pressing on the buds hurt? I think I recall some pain but can't remember what kind of pain it felt like or the lv. (Have had a lot going on after coming out to my Dad and step mom)

Also, about what you said about if I was born intersex then they'd have told me. Not true. A lot of the time doctors don't even tell the parents their baby is intersex, or at least many years back they didn't, don't know about now. Some would go as far as to "correct" the IS condition without the parent's consent etc. while others would leave it but not tell the parents. Plus its people who decide whether someone is born, male, female or IS and now in some places other things too. I read all this in a wiki, probably the wiki on intersex. (Don't know what it could have been otherwise) So given my birth defect and less so for the rest (Except how my body reacts just like a female body does at times), that's why I believe I may have been born IS and I honestly think the doc in charge either didn't tell us or didn't know.  :-\
EDIT: Also I heard someone here and others too (Not sure if here or not) say they got surgery done on their genitals etc. without ever going to see a therapist/doctor.
You said HRT, in other words hormones and for me the E. Who can prescribe it for me? A doc, therapist, gender therapist, other or all of the above? Hopefully it won't cost much.

You would be surprised at the cost of a full transition. If you do all you can $100,000 would be a fairly close everything total. I am talking Therapist's, Endocrinologist's, lab work, meds, mammograms, FFS, voice coaching, voice surgery, SRS, revisions, travel cost's, hotel's, air fare, passport, unexpected cost's  such as complications and many others. It is not an inexpensive process and insurance hardly covers anything. In the U.S. you have to have referral letters for HRT and SRS, rules of the game.

I think it matters less with whom you start than what you ask.  So, let's practice.   What will you ask?



Some further facts and such I've found.

- Additional breasts or nipples (polymastia or polythelia) isn't really a birth defect, but a reasonably common anatomical variation.  (2% of females, 5% of males for polythelia; polymastia, I can't find figures.)

Reading male mammograms.
http://www.radiologyassistant.nl/en/p49a3cce262026

- Mature, non-lactating lobules are a lot less tender than buds.  But typical male breasts only have skin sensitivity (much like earlobes.)   If a "harmless" slap to the chest feels like a kick in the nuts, that would be a strong indication of not-typically-male physiology.

- "Holes"?  There should be milk pores, about a dozen-ish per nipple.  Usually they develop plugs that keep junk out, those might look like large blackheads, but otherwise they don't look any different than other skin pores.

Quote from: musicofthenight on November 30, 2013, 06:59:58 AM

- "Holes"?  There should be milk pores, about a dozen-ish per nipple.  Usually they develop plugs that keep junk out, those might look like large blackheads, but otherwise they don't look any different than other skin pores.

I'll have to answer everything else later when I get time but for now I wanted to clear up this question you asked.
Uh if you say a dozen then I assume you're referring to the "bumps" (or pimples, whichever you prefer) that are surrounding the nipple that sticks out? (The one nipple that the milk comes from, from what I understand) As to what I was referring to, no I meant that one big nipple that sticks out that milk comes out of. When you watch anime you might see those nipples poking through the shirt, those are the "nipples" I'm referring too. In short mine have a hole in them just like woman's do and from my understanding, it's that hole that is what the milk comes out of.

Quote from: Shana-chan on December 01, 2013, 12:40:56 AM
I'll have to answer everything else later when I get time but for now I wanted to clear up this question you asked.
Uh if you say a dozen then I assume you're referring to the "bumps" (or pimples, whichever you prefer) that are surrounding the nipple that sticks out? (The one nipple that the milk comes from, from what I understand) As to what I was referring to, no I meant that one big nipple that sticks out that milk comes out of. When you watch anime you might see those nipples poking through the shirt, those are the "nipples" I'm referring too. In short mine have a hole in them just like woman's do and from my understanding, it's that hole that is what the milk comes out of.

There isn't one hole that milk comes out of.

Milk comes out of lots of tiny little holes that are pretty much invisible until something comes out.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1254.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fhh619%2Fnataliespictures1%2FCFA78E06-73A2-4305-8496-9CCDCCB9A928-5646-000005ADC9F4BF6C_zpsc778331a.jpg&hash=eee30eaed046bfcbda404f2a779674803df8eb95)
Cartoons probably aren't the best place to learn about human physiology :)

Geese, sorry for such a late reply. o_o

Quote from: Jessica Merriman on November 30, 2013, 03:22:07 AM
You would be surprised at the cost of a full transition. If you do all you can $100,000 would be a fairly close everything total. I am talking Therapist's, Endocrinologist's, lab work, meds, mammograms, FFS, voice coaching, voice surgery, SRS, revisions, travel cost's, hotel's, air fare, passport, unexpected cost's  such as complications and many others. It is not an inexpensive process and insurance hardly covers anything. In the U.S. you have to have referral letters for HRT and SRS, rules of the game.

O_O I'm surprised it's not more. o_o Now I have a rough goal to shoot for. Thank you. :) Revisions?

Quote from: Isabelle on December 01, 2013, 01:25:42 AM
Milk comes out of lots of tiny little holes that are pretty much invisible until something comes out.

Cartoons probably aren't the best place to learn about human physiology :)

I see. :) That still doesn't change the fact that I know woman have a single noticeable hole in the center of their nipple. lol Thanks for telling me this. :)

Quote from: musicofthenight on November 30, 2013, 06:59:58 AM
I think it matters less with whom you start than what you ask.  So, let's practice.   What will you ask?

- "Holes"?  There should be milk pores, about a dozen-ish per nipple.  Usually they develop plugs that keep junk out, those might look like large blackheads, but otherwise they don't look any different than other skin pores.

Hem, all I know is I'd tell the doc I think I'm intersex (I might tell her I'm transgender or wait till I know if I'm intersex or not) and that I'd like her to run some tests I want done. So questions at this point is something I don't really have. lol Should I have questions for her? (Although, if she can't prefer the test then I'd ask her to refer me to someone who could)

See the above sentence that I bolded for your answer. lol

I have never seen a hole in female nipples, You can see the ducts where milk comes out if you look closely, sometime using a magnifying glass. The extra nipples thing isn't unheard of at all but not an intersex thing either. Helping you find a doctor or therapist is really hard to do if we don't know what state your in and changing documents vary state to state.

Quote from: Isabelle on November 29, 2013, 07:57:39 PM
In answer to your questions (in my opinion)

1, if you had "breast buds" you'd know. They are firm lumps directly under the nipple, they range in size from a small "pebble" to much larger. They would be very tender, pressing on them hurts. If you have lumps in your breasts, it always best to get them checked.

2, A mammogram won't confirm anything as, there is no such thing as male or female breasts. There is simply breast tissue. There is very little difference, men can nurse babies. This is a recorded fact. The only reason women are incouraged to have mammograms and not men is, the tissues in human breasts are sensitive to estrogenic cancers, men have a lot less estrogen therefore, a much lower incidence of breast tissue cancers.

3, there are a lot of different conditions classified as "intersex" or Disorders of sexual development. Many are chromosomal and can be detected by a karotype test however many are known as mosaic chromosomal disorders and are harder to detect. Many of these disorders are coupled with intellectual disabilities, infertility (often how they're discovered)
Disorders that are physically visible are usually operated on at birth, such as incomplete penile growth (particularly affecting the position of the urethral opening in "males" and fused/partially fused labia in "females" Undesende/bi-differentiated gonads (one ovary, one teste) However, your parents would have been informed of this when you were born, so you'd already have your answer.
4, a cat scan won't show anything like that I don't think...
5, by all means get your bits checked, it never hurts to have a checkup
6, I can't help there as we have socialized health care in my country, meaning health serivces are free, no insurance required.

Finally, I have no idea why you'd consider being intersexed as "lucky" A lot of those conditions aren't much fun for the people who have them.
Basically, don't look to simple physical biology to feel justified in who you are. It's unhealthy... And a bit offensive.

it doesnt really affect me but if it had been a response to my question i wouldve been irritated at the tone of this entire post.
it screams snobby. and im not saying it for no reason. if it were me id want to be told. especially if i hadnt realized. but i admit it could be a failing on my part. im wrong a lot.

also. there are obviously big differences in the brains of males vs females and thus in transgenders. its entirely possible that a scan of some sort can tell. its amazing what they do with brain scans these days. aside from controlling computers based on thought (seriously)