Susan's Place Transgender Resources

What type of doctor do I see first?  I haven't been to the regular doctor in years, am I supposed to find one, be a regular patient for a while, and try to surpass the anxiety of bringing this up, or is it straightforward?  I'm recently 18 and recently out.  I think I can just go to wherever but I have zero information on who/what/how.  I have insurance through my mom, not sure if they'll cover anything.  I'm out, but want to keep the transition aspect to myself.  Do I need to do anything or is the confidentiality already there?  Help please.

I imagine most of it will depend on how your insurance handles referrals to psychs and endocrinologists, etc. Like do they require a referral from a doctor or not? Even though it is under your mom's insurance, since you are over 18 you should have privacy and confidentiality, but any visits to any claimable doctors/psychs/endos may very likely show up on your mom's insurance statement. You may need to talk to the insurance company to figure out how all that works.

It depends on where you live. I went and saw my primary care doctor who referred me to a therapist and then after that to an Endo. In my case, I also had other insurance hoops to jump through to help cover transition covered services through my insurance. Hugs
Mariah

My route was the same as Mariah's but there are transgender clinics that are one stop shopping in some places

be well and good luck
jenifer

I live in a small city. I went to only my GP or Primary Care doc and she has handled everything. I had already been in therapy for years so had therapist to back me up if needed. It was not needed.

So I should probably find a regular doctor first?

Thanks

Quote from: transparentgingersnap on March 20, 2016, 10:41:50 PM
What type of doctor do I see first?  I haven't been to the regular doctor in years, am I supposed to find one, be a regular patient for a while, and try to surpass the anxiety of bringing this up, or is it straightforward?  I'm recently 18 and recently out.  I think I can just go to wherever but I have zero information on who/what/how.  I have insurance through my mom, not sure if they'll cover anything.  I'm out, but want to keep the transition aspect to myself.  Do I need to do anything or is the confidentiality already there?  Help please.

Start with a therapist,  they will then confirm for you and then you can go to an endocrinologist or other dr for hormones. There is so much info available on this site and many others, you just need to poke around.

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A lot depends upon where you are in the transition process.  (By "transition process" I'm thinking of the whole road from where you first question your gender until you end up in whatever transitioned place you feel you belong.)

If you're still in the "what am I?" phase, you should start with a psychotherapist who has some familiarity with gender issues, ideally someone who has treated trans patients (and not screwed it up!)  As others have mentioned, depending on your insurance, you might need a referral from some "primary care physician" if you want to get them to pay, which means picking some cooperative doctor that your insurance recognizes as a PCP.  My insurance does not.  If you do need a referral, I'd suggest contacting your local LGBT groups to get recommendations for therapists and simply asking your PCP to refer you to them, as most non-trans-aware therapists are worse than nothing for people questioning their gender.

If you're pretty well decided on transitioning (outwardly), you still probably want a therapist to support you with the social side of transition (a good trans support group might do, also), but if you plan to do medical transition as well, you'll also need a trans-aware endocrinologist.  In my case, there's an LGBT clinic in NYC that I went to.  My insurance doesn't require a referral, but if yours does, get your PCP to do so.  Again, I'd suggest getting recommendations from a local LGBT group.

I went to a regular primary care provider at an LGBTQ health clinic first. She prescribes and monitors my hormones. They follow the informed consent model, so I didn't need to see a therapist prior. My doctor connected me to the mental health department at the same clinic when I needed surgical referrals. Then I saw a plastic surgeon, an OB/GYN, and now another plastic surgeon. I still see the same original doctor for hormones.

I can only comment on what I have been up to, but I saw my primary doctor and asked for a recommendation for a therapist.  I feel lucky to have found one that I have been happy with (the first one I met with...double lucky).  I also recently went back to my primary (after 6 months in therapy) and we are exploring some low-dose hormonal therapy.   At some point if either of us feels we need a more specialized opinion, I will be referred to an endocrinologist.   

i went to a LGBT clinic and had a doctor assigned to me, then had a visit with the therapist and that doctor prescribed the pills. This seems to be the absolute best method IMO, because if I need something from legal help to dosage information I can ask her and she can direct me to someone in the very same building, and sliding scale fees rock.

one of the key things to keep in mind is insurance and how each company handles things differently - mine happens to be particularly anal about "specialists" and requires a referral from a primary physician before they will even think about covering specialty claims - needed referrals for both my therapist and my endocrinologist for insurance to cover any part of their services

be well
jenifer

I'm not completely sure. I know that with me I had a really hard time trying to figure out what to do and who to go to where to start from. In the end because of my complications of not knowing. I ended up just telling my regular doctor I told her why I didn't know what to do or where to go. And because I explained to her what was going on she eventually helped me find the right information and the right places the call and go.
So maybe you can explain to yours your situation and see if they'll help you :)