Susan's Place Transgender Resources

My girlfriend recently told me that she's transgender female and we're both doing research about hrt, but can anyone help me with some questions? Preferably from Ontario, but any where in north America is okay. Thank you in advance!!!!

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Female to Male? Or Male to Female?

Quote from: Harley Quinn on June 22, 2017, 11:18:12 AM
Female to Male? Or Male to Female?

Male to female

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The two quickest ways are:

1. Just ask your primary care physician.

2. Go the informed consent route, which is basically asking your primary care.

After that, you can go with a therapist who'll evaluate you and refer you to an endocrinologist who can prescribe.

Results usually kick in within a month of starting.

Those are just wild ass guesses about what I think you'll be asking, was I close?  ;D

Hugs, Devlyn

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on June 22, 2017, 11:34:29 AM
The two quickest ways are:

1. Just ask your primary care physician.

2. Go the informed consent route, which is basically asking your primary care.

After that, you can go with a therapist who'll evaluate you and refer you to an endocrinologist who can prescribe.

Results usually kick in within a month of starting.

Those are just wild ass guesses about what I think you'll be asking, was I close?  ;D

Hugs, Devlyn

Haha almost!
My main 2 are, would Jo have to be living openly as a woman for a certain amount of time before starting hrt? And how does smoking cigarettes affect hrt?

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Smoking is very bad. Stop it immediately. It's a huge health risk and may stop her from getting on hormones. As for the Real life experience, No you don't for hormones. Informed consent is just you saying yes to the risks. Real life experience is barely required anymore... mainly to ensure that you want to be a woman before irreversible surgery happens and even then not every doctor requires it.

HRT isn't just for women or men, the in-betweeners like me can get it, too.  :)

Hugs, Devlyn

If she has any issues with real life experience, just have her inform them that she has been living as a woman all her life, only impersonating a man when it was required by social conventions. However, she was a woman every day of her life.... that should get her past the RLE BS.

In most countries Real Life Experience is a non-issue.  Clothing, makeup and hair style don't affect the human endocrine system.  The exception I'm aware of is the UK national health care program currently requires RLE before transgender HRT.

HRT is not exclusively for transgender - for example I recently discovered my hormone levels are too low for either gender, and probably contributed to my losing 4 inches of height in the past 20 years.  I am starting HRT next month.  I am otherwise very healthy, but if I don't go on HRT I would probably end up in a wheelchair 10 years from now.

In Canada if you wish to take advantage of the health care system, the rules may require a therapy evaluation first then after a diagnosis is made, a referral will be made for HRT. You should start  by seeing your primary care physician for a referral to a therapist. Playing it by the numbers will greatly reduce the cost of treatment and may even provide surgery at a very reduced cost. The rules vary from province to province so you will need to learn what's available in your area.

RLE is not required before starting HRT.  I was on HRT for three months before I began RLE. 

Unless you can afford to go totally private, you will want to go through OHIP.  All the provincial health plans require following the WPATH guidelines, which call for an evaluation by a "qualified mental health professional".  That can be a psychiatrist, a psychologist or a social worker, provided they have received the WPATH training.  With a referral letter from them, you can see a doctor for a prescription.

Any medical doctor can prescribe any medication, but most GPs will avoid prescribing HRT, since they do not have the expertise to monitor levels.  An endocrinologist can do it, or a GP who has received training. 

I got my letter from a psychologist that I hired out of pocket (though my wife's insurance reinbursed me), to avoid long waiting lists in the public system.  I get my prescriptions from a GP within the provincial (NS) health plan who specializes in treating trans clients and has enough training to monitor low-risk patients on HRT.

Try this from BCs Provincial Health Services Authority so all above board from their Trans Care site where we go for information in BC. I found it had pretty much everything I needed to know. For people in BC their contact service helping to connect with medical resources was great for me. Answers within a day by email when I used it.

http://www.phsa.ca/transgender/Documents/Primary%20Care%20Toolkit.pdf

You might find something about Ontario through:

https://www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/trans-health-connection/

Hi where abouts in ontario do you live I am by Niagara Falls ontario.  I am as of today 6 months on HRT.  What where you questions I might be able to help