Hello
Dose anyone living in EU (or norway switzerland) countrys who want to tell what its like in these area to be trans?

I may get to work abroud in this area, probably in Norway or Sweden but in caise I cant get anything there I will try being as openminded as posible for the suggestions who will be available.

I simple want to be somewhere to work or study in fair conditions where I dont need to worry too much of being trans and not being able to get my homones. pretty much just minding my own busniss.
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please only answer if you are from these area or have lived there in a certain amount of time.

I'm English originally but have lived and studied in Zurich since 2002. I have done all my psychotherapy and transition there; and been impressed with the ease... But I also did it outside of the normal University Hospital process. Swiss people are generally very respectful - celebrities rarely hassled. And I've felt very comfortable living there post transition. Yes there will always be exceptions but I've not had any (yet - fingers crossed).

Studies are in German or French until Bachelor level; many more in English for Master's and predominantly English at PhD. Although classed as Poly Technics both the ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne are very highly ranked; way above the universities.

There are some drawbacks - cost of living is very high. But so are grants and salaries. You will be registered to the foreign police and there are central databases linking names addresses status etc. Generally though if you have done nothing wrong you won't notice.

Access to hormones requires a doctor certificate and you may have to pay privately (depending upon how much you want to tell your health insurance). Typically about 500-600 chf / year. IPL is costly 400 chf / session for legs, facial hair. Epilation for 30min is around 150 chf. There may be cheaper options outside the cities

Quote from: Monkeymel on August 17, 2014, 07:27:47 PM
I'm English originally but have lived and studied in Zurich since 2002. I have done all my psychotherapy and transition there; and been impressed with the ease... But I also did it outside of the normal University Hospital process. Swiss people are generally very respectful - celebrities rarely hassled. And I've felt very comfortable living there post transition. Yes there will always be exceptions but I've not had any (yet - fingers crossed).

Studies are in German or French until Bachelor level; many more in English for Master's and predominantly English at PhD. Although classed as Poly Technics both the ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne are very highly ranked; way above the universities.

There are some drawbacks - cost of living is very high. But so are grants and salaries. You will be registered to the foreign police and there are central databases linking names addresses status etc. Generally though if you have done nothing wrong you won't notice.

Access to hormones requires a doctor certificate and you may have to pay privately (depending upon how much you want to tell your health insurance). Typically about 500-600 chf / year. IPL is costly 400 chf / session for legs, facial hair. Epilation for 30min is around 150 chf. There may be cheaper options outside the cities

My German is not that good but I learn fast and been told my my friend (which is native in germany) that I do have the right vocals for it, and can also read it. so if I took a course for the first period I dont think it would be much of an issue for me. on the other hand I have never studied France so that would be more difficult.

If im to pay it okay, I also currently pay for my homones, I just want to go somewhere where it will be an option and where I wont have to wait a year or half to get them, that is my biggest concern.
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Hello..

I'm living in Sweden and I'm born here. I think the conditions for trans* people here are reasonably fair from what I've seen so far. I don't have that much personal experience yet since I just in the past weeks started to come out to friends and family though. I don't know (or at least I don't know if I know) any other trans* people either.

I've done a lot of research since I accepted I'm trans* (ftm or fta, not sure yet) some half a year ago and I seems fairly easy to get hormones. One has to go through gender identity therapy to make sure of ones condition first, and from what I read it seems that it takes about a year. From a blog I've read I think it sometimes can go a lot faster, like if you already have been taking hormones they might let you get them faster. If youre a citizen I think it's free or at least sanctioned, but I have no idea how it works if you're from another country.

How easy it is to just live your life in peace as a trans* person here I think depends mostly on where you chose to live, where you work and what people you surround yourself with. Most of the universitys has some kind of lgbtq group and most citys have that too. I think it would be easiest for you if you chose a bigger city and a city with a active lgbtq community, regardless of which country you end up in.

Um. I'm actually going to call the health center first thing tomorow to get my first appointment with the mental health centre, where I hope to get a referall to the gender identity therapy. If you're interested in the process here in Sweden you can message me so I can keep you updated on what happens and maybe ask them some questions on your behalf.

With love to all

Quote from: HellsbellsMio on August 18, 2014, 01:56:09 PM
Hello..

I'm living in Sweden and I'm born here. I think the conditions for trans* people here are reasonably fair from what I've seen so far. I don't have that much personal experience yet since I just in the past weeks started to come out to friends and family though. I don't know (or at least I don't know if I know) any other trans* people either.

I've done a lot of research since I accepted I'm trans* (ftm or fta, not sure yet) some half a year ago and I seems fairly easy to get hormones. One has to go through gender identity therapy to make sure of ones condition first, and from what I read it seems that it takes about a year. From a blog I've read I think it sometimes can go a lot faster, like if you already have been taking hormones they might let you get them faster. If youre a citizen I think it's free or at least sanctioned, but I have no idea how it works if you're from another country.

How easy it is to just live your life in peace as a trans* person here I think depends mostly on where you chose to live, where you work and what people you surround yourself with. Most of the universitys has some kind of lgbtq group and most citys have that too. I think it would be easiest for you if you chose a bigger city and a city with a active lgbtq community, regardless of which country you end up in.

Um. I'm actually going to call the health center first thing tomorow to get my first appointment with the mental health centre, where I hope to get a referall to the gender identity therapy. If you're interested in the process here in Sweden you can message me so I can keep you updated on what happens and maybe ask them some questions on your behalf.

With love to all

good luck with the procces.

I been in sweden many times and got many friends there, its also one of the high priorities since I was already suposed to study this year if I got in the school I wanted (which I did not unfurtunately)

in my caise is pretty important to know how long it would take for me as who already is on homones to get permission to continue my threatment and have access to a fair healthcare. one year for permission is a pretty long time to go without homones, so I dont know if this will have anything to say or not.

So... Time to get hormones is important?

If you had a referring therapist or doctor letter, you could probably get an appointment with suitable endochrinologist with 4 weeks who could give hormone prescription straight away. All pharmacies can provide them within a few days.

If you don't have this from your own country then it probably needs a therapist & referral letter which could take another 4-8 weeks depending upon your existing RLE or transition experience.

Quote from: Natkat on August 19, 2014, 01:34:21 PM
good luck with the procces.

I been in sweden many times and got many friends there, its also one of the high priorities since I was already suposed to study this year if I got in the school I wanted (which I did not unfurtunately)

in my caise is pretty important to know how long it would take for me as who already is on homones to get permission to continue my threatment and have access to a fair healthcare. one year for permission is a pretty long time to go without homones, so I dont know if this will have anything to say or not.

Hum, if you're alredy mostly interested in Sweden, couldn't you call the Swedish healthcare and try and find out exactly how they would handle your situtaion? When you've gotten a clear picture of how it would be with hormones and things like that for you, you could decide i you'd rather move somwhere else. I think that's the easiest way since you're quite specific in what you want to know.

Thanks and good luck to you too

Quote from: Monkeymel on August 19, 2014, 08:33:34 PM
So... Time to get hormones is important?

If you had a referring therapist or doctor letter, you could probably get an appointment with suitable endochrinologist with 4 weeks who could give hormone prescription straight away. All pharmacies can provide them within a few days.

If you don't have this from your own country then it probably needs a therapist & referral letter which could take another 4-8 weeks depending upon your existing RLE or transition experience.

norway and denmark are still stuck in the 70s when it comes to transsexual health care. other forms of transgender are not offered treatment in the national health system in norway, and i don't even think there's a handful of doctors who'd be willing to prescribe opposite sex hormones. denmark isn't all that much better. but from what i've heard, sweden has gotten a bit further ahead, and aren't as strict as my accursed home country.

i'm currently trying to decide on whether or not to even step foot within that system (which means i'd have to go to denmark or other eu country instead), or try the system. but if i try them, i'll have to decide on whether to lie to get what i want, or be honest and having to take the lack of trans* care to the media. unless some politicians start changing policies soon.

norwegians unfortunately have this delusion of being world masters at everything, and believe that authorities know better than the patients or politicians or whoever. it's ridiculous, and sometimes makes me so angry i really just want to riot and revolt and start a whole revolution. (not talking only about health system, every system is the same)

I am from Baltics, and as far as I know, situation is very much the same in all three countries (LAT,LIT, EST).  We do not have any state funded transgender care, You can get diagnosis by undergoing a couple of interviews and tests with multidisciplinary expert commission (yeah, psychs and psychologists everywhere) and they confirm F64.0. With that You go to endo (and we have several endos skilled in HRT) and get prescriptions. The cost for blood works and meds will be on You, but on the side note, costs are nowhere as high as in Western Europe. We have a clinic which does SRS, btw, but they have not done more than 10 surgeries. Also, being post-Eastern bloc countries, everything can be also obtained by circumventing the above-mentioned system - if that is what You are interested ofc. No therapy, no counselling is available  - unless You want to pay to educate Your general therapist.
No legal coverage either - legal lacunas as regards the procedures to change gender markers and legal genders (there is currently no legal procedure for gender change and thus authorities either deal with it on a case-by-case basis of You take them to the court). No protections under law either.

As a side note, general population is very much unaware of transgender people and if You are passing well or at least dont stand out then people might never figure You out. People just dont thing outside of male-female binary system.

I dont really know much about Denmark, but their recent amendments on obtaining gender marker change did sound pretty awesome - a simple notification and 6 months period during which You can change Your mind - afterwards that change becomes permanent.

some systems are great for people who are very clearly f64.0. i'm not, so norway is kind of... not the best country i could ever have chosen to settle in.

I am from Germany and for me is qas quite esay to transition. Of course it depends where you life an work in Germany but e. g. in Berlin there are lots of trans* experienced docs. The healthcare system is covering the costs for HRT, SRS, speech training, breast augmentation and beard removal. You will need some RLE to get coverage for srs and a therapist. HET also usually requires a letter from your therapist. If you do not take drugs or abuse alcohol it is usually easy to get coverage. HRT without letter from your therapist is posdible but only a few endocrinologists will prescribe you hormons.


So at the end a good therapist will guide you through process and is extremly helpful :-)

Lara

In the UK, transition is both easy and hard.

You need no one's permission. Name change takes one piece of paper and £25 (about €30). Changing your passport and govt records takes no time at all. Two forms and it is done. There are private doctors who will evaluate you and prescribe hormones within a few weeks / months. Surgery can be arranged for £10K (about €16K).

If you decide to use the NHS then things get tricky because it will get you there but it is slowwwww. You have to be prepared to push the bureaucrats somewhat. I know some people who have taken five or six years to get through the NHS whereas I have taken less than two years.

Socially, I find most people very polite and accepting. There are laws to stop discrimination against trans people and to allow medical transitioners to have a new birth certificate issued. Compared to what I read about the US Bible Belt, Central America or some of the less progressive European countries I feel the UK is an easy place to transition in and probably safer than many places around the world.

thanks for the answers, Im manly interesteed in the homone points and the cultural view on how transgender are threaten in the country/areas. other laws like the posibility to change gender marks and such are also cool to know.

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on August 20, 2014, 06:30:35 AM
I dont really know much about Denmark, but their recent amendments on obtaining gender marker change did sound pretty awesome - a simple notification and 6 months period during which You can change Your mind - afterwards that change becomes permanent.

this change is pretty cool indeed but there is a sidepoint.
While denmark will make it easy to change legal ID from this september with no more sterilization requirements, they however is also going to put up some other laws wich can be negative for transgenders. there is new guidelines who may make it imposible to get homones from a privat doctor, and for people like me who can only get my permission from these, I would not be able to keep my homone threatment.
This is also a reason I want to move, yet not the full reason but being without homones seams for me that I would either risk my health to stay or move away to find something ells. its not 100% this will be the caise.
(when I still consider norway despite they having almost simular system its because they have not made these new guideline and by that private doctors are still tecnically an option and I know some norwegians have them, it just difficult to find.)

Quote from: Monkeymel on August 19, 2014, 08:33:34 PM
So... Time to get hormones is important?

Make me sound like im in a hurry but in some point yes. I dont want to go to a place where I would have to be of homones for a long period of time. I think this may just cause me even more mental stress than the moving in general. I rather go somewhere, where I can make my homone transition pretty easy and have a pretty healthy balance with it, using my time focusing on other things like the job, studing or learning the languarge. I already had issues where I live with my homones because theres so much trouble and I feel and know that its unhealthy for me. if its a small amount of time then I can be without homones but half a year to a year I begen to get sceptical.