Susan's Place Transgender Resources

It's been a good while since I've been able to come on here and post or what not. But a lot has happened since. I've been seeing a therapist at my college who is ready to write me a letter, clearing me for starting t when I'm ready. I'm really leaning toward wanting to star that this summer. My therapist told me about a doctor that is in the area, but considering I'll be away from school this summer I wanted to find someone closer to my home town. Is there like a list of doctors who are open and willing to administer t to ftm individuals. Or how should I go about this? A doctor's office? A hospital? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Include in your search "Trans Hormones - Informed Consent" THInC.  Here's an article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune (http://www.howardbrown.org/uploadedFiles/Services_and_Programs/Transgender_Health/Chicago%20Trib%20Article%20re%20HB_s%20THInC%20Program%20-%206%2025%2010.pdf).

Thank you mam. Hopefully this will help when I get a chance to do some more research tonight.

i go to Dr.Spack at childrens hospital boston

If I lived anywhere near Boston, that would be awesome. Haha.. but I'm from South Carolina. How'd you end up finding out about your doctor in Boston though?

Just look up trans friendly doctors in ____. Personally I looked at my local glbt centers website to see if they had anything. Then I looked up an insurance directory (I didn't have insurance) but they are usually lists of huge doctors that you just put your zip code in and it tells you the nearest doctors and I called every one on the list until I found one who said they would accept me. It took hours but it was worth it.

Thank you Andrew. Great information. Did you just explain to the secretary or nurse the "issue" and then they would either say yes or no?

What part of SC? If it's not too far, Dr. Marlowe in Charlotte, NC is trans friendly.

I'm in the upstate of S.C... so Charlotte is only about an hour and half out. Not too bad of a drive. I did a quick look up of him, says he has an emphasize in weight loss. I'm guessing he's trans friendly with giving hormones too? What else you know about him? Thanks such much for everyone's help by the way!  :)

Yup I basically said something along the lines of "I'm transgender and looking to start testosterone I have a psychiatrist letter would one of the doctors there be willing to work with me"

Just be prepared. Many times I did not get past the "I'm transgender before being hung up on or told "the doctor will not work with those "  Good luck man

I googled transgender doctor in (insert my city). I found two doctors in my town about 10 minutes away. I still need to get a letter though..

I have a question for you too. I have no insurance and not enough money for a therapist, but i recently found out there is one at my college who sees students for free. You mentioned you went to a therepist at your college. How did you go about asking them for a letter, or how did you find out they worked with trans people?

Thought I'd butt in as I may be able to answer Michael's question.

Btw, OP, you have good taste in names. ;) I may have to re-add my initial or this could potentially get confusing!

QuoteYou mentioned you went to a therepist at your college. How did you go about asking them for a letter, or how did you find out they worked with trans people?

I have a therapist at my uni that works with transpeople. He is listed on the website for my province, and it's mentioned on the uni website. See if the counselling centre there has a list of therapists. Also, don't really be afraid to ask the receptionist, the worst they can say is no.

If it's free, it might be worth a try even if they aren't gender therapists. Bring the SOC in case they want background...that's how some more open-minded therapists become gender therapists, through people who take the time to approach them.

Quote from: Caleb. on March 12, 2011, 12:50:33 AM
Thought I'd butt in as I may be able to answer Michael's question.

Btw, OP, you have good taste in names. ;) I may have to re-add my initial or this could potentially get confusing!

I have a therapist at my uni that works with transpeople. He is listed on the website for my province, and it's mentioned on the uni website. See if the counselling centre there has a list of therapists. Also, don't really be afraid to ask the receptionist, the worst they can say is no.

If it's free, it might be worth a try even if they aren't gender therapists. Bring the SOC in case they want background...that's how some more open-minded therapists become gender therapists, through people who take the time to approach them.

Thanks for the response man, Ill definitely have to try that. Ive got nothing to lose, and your right, the worst they can do is say no.

BTW, I got really confused for a minute with the whole name thing lol. I was like wait Calebs answering my question for Caleb?? Then I realized there's two of you :laugh:

Speaking from my own experience, it may not be this way everywhere but post-secondary institutes are generally very open-minded. I live in Hicktown Canada and I have had ZERO problems on campus (serious or limiting ones, anyway). I have a feeling the therapist would be open to give it a chance.

Andrew: Thanks so much man. I'm going to do more research on this and call some places up, if I can't find anything closer I'm content with driving to Charlotte.

Michael: Yeah man, the way the therapy system at our college works is you go in, fill out some information. Then they call you back and have someone talk to you about what you're there for, kind of like a pre meeting to make sure they have someone who is there that can meet your needs. The guy I'm working with right now has worked with a few other trans who have attended the college, but he still isn't very knowledgeable on the subject. He knows that his job is to make sure I'm in the right sound of mind and that this isn't something I'm about to just jump into. Basically after our second meeting he told me he wanted us to keep meeting to show that things are still going well and on the right track, but he's got enough proof to write me a letter to my doctor this summer when that time comes around.

Quote from: Caleb on March 11, 2011, 04:17:44 PM
I'm in the upstate of S.C... so Charlotte is only about an hour and half out. Not too bad of a drive. I did a quick look up of him, says he has an emphasize in weight loss. I'm guessing he's trans friendly with giving hormones too? What else you know about him? Thanks such much for everyone's help by the way!  :)

Caleb, I'm not sure if it's ok to post link, but if you google "Thomas Marlowe transgender", it should take you to that page of his site. For some reason, it is difficult to find when starting with the weight loss portion.

I was gonna go to him, but found an endo closer to me.

Ohh ok I got ya. I will definitely look into him. Thank you very much for helping me out guys, very very very helpful!

Quote from: Caleb on March 12, 2011, 06:22:09 AM
Andrew: Thanks so much man. I'm going to do more research on this and call some places up, if I can't find anything closer I'm content with driving to Charlotte.

Michael: Yeah man, the way the therapy system at our college works is you go in, fill out some information. Then they call you back and have someone talk to you about what you're there for, kind of like a pre meeting to make sure they have someone who is there that can meet your needs. The guy I'm working with right now has worked with a few other trans who have attended the college, but he still isn't very knowledgeable on the subject. He knows that his job is to make sure I'm in the right sound of mind and that this isn't something I'm about to just jump into. Basically after our second meeting he told me he wanted us to keep meeting to show that things are still going well and on the right track, but he's got enough proof to write me a letter to my doctor this summer when that time comes around.

Wow thats awesome! Im gunna check out how it works at my school after spring break

Good! You should, because it's something that has to be done, and save us college kids some money! Haha.

If you are in the upstate of SC check out Asheville NC. My therapist mentioned that there were a few doctors there that work with trans people. Asheville is pretty GLBT friendly in general so you might have a good chance of finding one. Good luck!

Thanks man. I think Asheville is a little further away than Charlotte, but I will still most def. look into that area as well. Thank you Ethan!

Quick semi related question: how did you figure out your school had that kind of therapy? I go to community college and the only type of counseling I saw was for scheduling classes. I'm not exactly sure how to ask about other types of counseling. It would be super rad if they did this at my college but I honestly doubt it.

Brent... hm let me try and answer your question as best as I can. I go to a pretty well known D1 college. So it's made obvious that there are therapy options available, it's also added in on our tuition regardless if you take advantage of the sessions available. Anyways, we have a "doctors office" on campus. Which also is where there are therapy rooms on the other half of the building. Maybe try to google some stuff about your college. If you can't find anything, maybe try asking your adviser or student resource leader if there are any therapy options available on your campus. They don't need to know why you're asking. Let me know how it goes.

Yeah I'll try that. I just get nervous asking about it. It would be sweet if they offered stuff like that at though.

If I were you and were nervous about asking. Just be like yea I'm having a hard time at school and at home and wanted to know if the school offered any therapy or counseling. That's all the details you need to give them. The worse they can say is no.

Great idea. I never thought of it like that. I'll try this tomorrow if I can make myself work up the courage. If they don't have something like that, maybe they would have a recommendation of a place that does. Who knows? Its worth a shot.

I also emailed my local LGBT Center. Hopefully one of those places can help me out.

Good. And don't be nervous. Be exited! I've heard the quote, "Courage is only fear that said its prayers." You got this man. I got your back, and I'm sure every other ftm can stand on that as well.

I went with my friend Melissa to Dr. Marlow and he is a very kind and friendly guy. He will pretty much let you sign an "informed consent" form then he will write you scripts for HRT. I think about half his practice is for medical weight loss and half is transgender.

The only bad thing is he only focuses on the HRT and won't handle your other medical needs.

Thank you for the feedback Stacy. When I was looking over some of his stuff online I did notice that his main focus was on weight loss. That is a downfall that he will only help with the HRT though. Is he pretty good at the HRT though? Like he knows what he's doing with it? I also have another question, do you remember what he charged?

I think HRT is a much larger part of his business than his website says. His initioal fee is $200 plus labs and he will prescribe meds on first visit. Follow up visits are $100. He does seem very compassionate and knowledgeable.

Good luck!

Great feedback Stacy. Thank you very much! Once this summer rolls around I will update everyone and how everything goes!

Caleb,
I went to Dr. Marlow with Stacy to get my HRT. Most of the practice is weight loss. You can find TG details here:
http://www.marlowesweightloss.com/transgender.html (http://www.marlowesweightloss.com/transgender.html)
http://www.marlowesweightloss.com/transgender2.html (http://www.marlowesweightloss.com/transgender2.html)

I have my follow up visit on April 4th.

-M

Thank you Melissa. I read over the links you left me. It sounds like he does know what he's talking about and is taking all the safety precautions that he can, which is what I really want. I guess the only thing I don't know about is how it price range compares to others.

I think it was pretty reasonable given the amount of time he spent with me. Plus you can get your meds really cheap with a script. Many of them are on Walmart's $4 list. I paid $9 for the E at Walgreens just to avoid the line at WalMart.

On the first visit he sent me for blood work at a lab about 10 min away. I guess insurance covered the cost as I never saw a bill.

You can always go to your GP and see if he will write the script as well. Mine is kind of "churchy" and I am fairly well known locally and didn't want things to get back and embarrass my wife. I'm actually a lot less concerned about it now. It is what it is.

Isn't it ironic though, that we both are trying to get what the other is trying to get rid of?
LOL - M

Good to know. Haha yes it is very ironic... you want to just trade parts?

Sure, want to see if Dr. Marlow can do it? It would probably be less painful to just switch brains though.... lol
(if only they could)

Haha sure lets ask him!

I did ask for a pill to cure me. No luck so I just got on E.

If only it were that simple. I just recently unveiled to my parents that I'm in a relationship with a female and that this summer I'll be starting T. My mom is not doing good with it at all, she seems so down and depressed. I feel so so bad, because I've done all I can to hold this off as long as possible for her sake, but I'll be graduating college in another year and I need to be ready for the work force. If it were as simple as a pill and bam changes... she may be a little more understanding. Lol.

Any up dates on the doctors that u have talked with I will give Thomas Marlowe, M.D a call monday to see what it will take

Unfortunately, I still don't have much to update on. I was hoping to start hormones over the summer but I ended up having some relationship issues with my girlfriend, which thankfully have been resolved. Other than that, I'm a senior this year in college. Wanting more than ever to start hormones asap. I'm not sure how to go about going to career fairs and finding a job. Things are getting so difficult and stressful. I can't wait to start hormones and get these things I like to call tumors cut off my chest. I pass as a guy all the time without trying (yea I'm a lucky one). The short shaggy haircut was def. all it needs for me. Besides having to disguise my voice to be deeper and try to hide the tumors. Of course during the winter that won't be nearly as hard with everyone wearing hoodies and jackets. Any new updates with anyone else?

im sorry man. i hope u can get on T soon. i cant wait till i go on T too. i came out to my school. went great now livin full time as a guy pretty much. i will hopefully start hormones soon im meetin wit my docter soon so yeah. uh not much else cept im tryin 2 make a new STP haha. any1 else?

Thanks bro, I'm glad we both have the same anticipations. We'll get there, hopefully sooner than later. You came out to your school? You in high school or college? Kudos for coming out though, that takes a lot of courage. Glad to hear that things are going good your way!

thanks. yeah i came out to middle school actually.

Awesome dude! As I'm sure I speak for others like us, congrats on stepping up and doing you!

thanks man!

Hi I'm live in  Greenville SC so we are close. I just moved here from South America so everything is pretty much new to me.  I was doing my search for a therapy and a doctor and trying to get some information . It's kinda hard to me since I'm not from here idk where to go or when to start.and family don't support me so I have to do it myself   I was wondering  if u can help me since we live close. We might go to the same doctor. Please help me. I hope u read this message . U can email me. aplee017@yahoo.com