Susan's Place Transgender Resources

My only concerns would be that I wish the effects of estrogen were faster and more powerful where there would be no need for other procedures and that the voice  would change along with the other features that change . Also I wish the medical community had a better grip on how to properly treat trans people.

There are no procedures to effectively and safely address certain issues of skeletal disproprotions -- especially in the the midface (and skull shape), shoulders, torso, and pelvis.  Oooh, not to mention hands and feet.

Electrolysis is brutal and slow, while scalp hair rejuvenation is hit or miss. 

I think labiaplasty is still somewhat lacking, and phalloplasty is still pretty stone-age.  We have nothing to grow uteruses or prostates, and nothing to convert testes and ovaries.  DNA reconstruction is a long, long way off. 

Scars can be a problem, especially for FTM top surgeries. 

Proper vocal training is still quite rare, and voice surgeries, while improving, have a lot of really terrible results.

Therapeutic practices have definitely improved in the last twenty years, but they're still very inconsistent. There's still no pill to make dysphoria go away for those who'd prefer not to transition in the first place. 

I have hopes for memory alteration, since they're so pliable to begin with. 

All that said, I still think the current state of available techniques are amazing.  HRT really does work over time, for most of us, especially now that bio-identical hormones are (usually) widely available. For me personally, facial surgery and bottom surgery were life-saving, and my complaints on these accounts are still minor overall.  Internet boards are just as, if not more so, therapeutic than many psychologists could ever be.  Hair transplants can address less severe hairline issues.  It is actually possible to develop a very good voice with training. 

Most of all, transition itself is the real cure, I think, and simply getting to that point is a huge step forward towards self-acceptance and healing.

Quote from: stephaniec on January 09, 2017, 11:54:50 AM
My only concerns would be that I wish the effects of estrogen were faster and more powerful where there would be no need for other procedures and that the voice  would change along with the other features that change . Also I wish the medical community had a better grip on how to properly treat trans people.

It's deferentially to bad that the same cannot happen while on Estrogen for mtfs if it could it would be awesome for you guys, but that awesome can still be achieved with the other methods it may be a longer path but we do what's needed.
I also wish the medical community had a wider understanding of transgender difficulties honestly i get sick and tired of having to be the person where i live to educate the doctors when they should be educating themselves. But that struggle is something we should face because if it ends up having to be us who are that education then so be it because in the future them places being educated by us will be more experienced for the generations ahead of us who hopefully someday won't have to be worried about the hospitals education.  Let us be that road if we have to ^_^ we do it together and many future paths can be built.

Since I don't have dysphoria anymore I would say I'm fine with it because all the treatment that was needed has already been done and ended. Hugs
Mariah

The treatments are adequate.  My complaint is that most insurance will not cover most of those treatments.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

I'm fairly happy with most of it. I'm not jazzed that there's really no way to make my hands/feet bigger or  narrow the skeletal structure of my hips, but it could be worse.
I waffle back and forth on whether or not I want to undergo phalloplasty. On one hand, the thought of it (provided that the entire procedure goes off without a hitch) is amazing; on the other hand, I have no idea what I'd do with myself if I lost sexual sensation. I'm an extremely sexual person, so just the thought of something like that even being on the table terrifies the hell out of me.

yea, that loss of sensation has always troubled me

I haven't started medical transition yet (first appointment with endo in March ;D) so I'll not touch on that here.

My concern is treatments for children, especially as it pertains to therapy. Being believed is very important and a lot of time it's brushed off as "kids will be kids." I can understand that when its just a once off thing where a boy wants to play with dolls or a girl likes trucks, but when it is persistent therapists need to be trained better to help them and parents need to be educated that it's not a choice and it's not a bad thing. We've made a lot of progress in the past 20 years on this, but I think it's still far from good. I think everyone of us can agree that if we had had the support structure we needed as children our lives would have been a lot better.

yea, freedom vs fear of being found out

There are many positives for sure. I wish though that they could somehow make the hands and feet to be more proportional. I would like the day when they can widen the hips. Alter height and width but no at the current situation

Hopefully breast/butt implants will be a thing of the past with stem cell technology.

I also don't understand how they can synthesize much more potent steroids than testosterone (eg. Trenbolone) But can't seem to do anything with estrogen.

Quote from: JMJW on January 14, 2017, 04:55:00 PM
Hopefully breast/butt implants will be a thing of the past with stem cell technology.

I also don't understand how they can synthesize much more potent steroids than testosterone (eg. Trenbolone) But can't seem to do anything with estrogen.

Actually estrogen is far more potent than testosterone. When you start pushing the blood levels, testosterone levels are about 30 times higher than estrogen levels yet development take place at near the same pace.

Quote from: Melissa317 on January 14, 2017, 03:59:47 PM
There are many positives for sure. I wish though that they could somehow make the hands and feet to be more proportional. I would like the day when they can widen the hips. Alter height and width but no at the current situation

Melissa,

Welcome to the site.

I can relate to your desires but I find I am so much happier than I was a year ago.

I also want to share some links with you. They are mostly welcome information and the rules that govern the site. If you have not had a chance to look through them, please take a moment to:

• Site Terms of Service and rules to live by  (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,2.0.html)
  
• Standard Terms and Definitions (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,54369.0.html)
  
• Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar) (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,114.0.html.)
  
• Reputation rules (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,18960.0.html)
  
• News posting & quoting guidelines (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,174951.0.html)
  
• Photo, avatars, and signature images policy (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,59974.msg383866.html#msg383866)
  

Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and join in.

With warmth,

Joanna

Quite happy now, the medical options I took really helped with GD. I was suffering terribly 10 years ago, it took waking up to this fact that I was denying myself help for many reasons, not anymore. It's not a perfect world, yet transition helped me in many ways more than simple gender issues, transition became an overall wellness program for me, and it worked ! I am living well today, and hindsight is clear.

Cynthia -

Comparing what we have now to what we had when I socially transitioned in 2003, it's amazing.

We still have a long way to go on all sides, though.  I'm not sure how much labiaplasty has improved over these years, but I find myself relieved that I told my mom when she asked that I didn't want to be a girl in the late 80s.  It sucks that I missed out on so much of my life, but surgically we've come leaps and bounds since.

My biggest complaints are from the insurance aspect of transition.  I'm diabetic and covered for most things.  GD is just as real and physical, yet chances are that most of what I need is not.  I also had to go several years without HRT because my GP didn't feel "comfortable" prescribing E to me due either to religious or cultural reasons.

Most of the insurance issues, other than profits, of course, are progressing far too slowly and it's society's bigotry at fault.