Hi,

I am considering going to Dr Brassard for my SRS but I am not sure where to go for the referral letters. The only ones I know of are Dr Lorimer at Gendercare and Dr Curtis at Transhealth.  Does anyone know if they would be acceptable or have suggestions for anyone else I could use.

Emma5410
Welcome to Susan's family 
You must have been on hormone therapy for at least a year before SRS. They want a letter from the doctor that prescribes your HRT. You are required to have two letters of recommendation for SRS and one for breast augmentation or top surgery. It can be written by a therapist, counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist or social worker. One letter should be written by someone with a Ph.D., and the other has to be by someone with at least a master's degree.Dr. Brassard requires for you to have at least a years worth of experience living full time in the new gender role. and before surgery there is a list of health tests that need to be meet.
Someone might stop by that lives in the UK that went to Brassard and offer more help on who, where and why!
In the meantime pull up a chair and give a look over the following links for the site info...

• Site Terms of Service and rules to live by
  
• Standard Terms and Definitions
  
• Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar)
  
• Age and the Forum
  
• Reputation rules
  
• Photo, avatars, and signature images policy
  

Safe passage on your path, popcorn?

Izzy

You should have two people that you deal with at the gender clinic that can do that for you?

I am still waiting for my second assessment at the gender clinic in November so I am probably ten months from getting a surgery referral. It is the endless delays in the NHS that is making me go private.

How long have you been on HRT and ft?

30 months HRT, 19 months RLE

How on earth have you managed to avoid a GIC for that long?! :-) lol. Nottingham are so stupid about how long people stay in their system. Some people I know have been through in one visit with that much time. They made me wait the whole time too and I had already changed my passport, name, was FT for months and been on HRT for a fair while.  Anywhooz...

If you wait for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from the GIC (what a joke with that much time under your belt) then you will probably wait for three months beyond when your next appointment is. that gives you 3-6 months before you would be able to ask them, unless they give in and diagnose the next visit.

If you think you can get letters from suitable people in the meantime then go for it, but I think it will probably take you that long or longer to find suitable people to write to support you and get letters from them. If the PhD requirement is accurate and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then Dr. Curtis wouldn't do. He is a GP type Dr and their 'Dr' is not from doctoral level study and award, its an awarded title only, and their actual qualification level is to graduate degree (though they have two of them). His highest qualification is a Masters level in Business as I understand it.

If it were me, then I would let them know that you expect letters from them on your third visit, when they make the diagnosis. Make sure you can prove the 30 months and RLE time with photos so that they can clearly see that you meet the requirements for the letter. If they do diagnose on the second visit, ask them to forward a letter to you and cc your GP.

That's what I would do.

Good luck x

Also, while I am here, get your letter for free hair removal from them. You are entitled to it NOW. Make sure they give you the go ahead for that.

Hello and welcome Emma!!!

@Kira21: Really? The NHS actually covers hair removal there? I wonder if I can just transfer from one system to the other.... Coz moving back to the UK in the future really is appetizing lately, more and more everyday.. And I'm spending way too much on IPL as it is!

I have had about 190 hours of electrolysis so I do not have too far to go. As I understand it the NHS will pay for 8 sessions so it will hardly remove all your hair.

My first choice for surgery was Thailand. I was just wondering where people got their referral letters for Dr. Brassard.  I have no intention of waiting for the NHS. 

If you have to have electro,  it's not good news.  Laser and Ipl fair much better with 8 sessions.  They need to be flooded with complaints about their lack of thought into how that works with electro. 

I got my initial referral in Oct 2012 but my GP did not send it until May 2013.
I waited a year for my first assessment and my second is in November so I still have not had any treatment in the NHS.  It will probably take at least another year until I get my two surgery referrals. I have read that the current waiting list for surgery is over 90 weeks and is growing by the day. Unless something radical happens I am looking at a 3-4 year wait for surgery if I use the NHS. Considering I have been paying taxes for 39 years and hardly ever used the NHS it is very disappointing.
After I pay for my surgery, assuming I can find the money, I will have completed my transition without any assistance from the NHS.

Honestly? IPL hasn't done much to my face.... So I doubt 8 sessions will cover much.. I've done more than that and all I have are some patches on my throat...

Ipl is a mixed bag due to greater variability of machines. Laser and electro are more reliable but both results will vary greatly due to factors such as hair and skin type, operator skill,  time between sessions etc.  8 think 8 sessions of laser at a respectable clinic is  very much more effective than 8 hrs of electro for most people!

Kira is right. If you have dark hair and light-pale skin, properly done IPL at a clinic would yield great results for most. Electro would yield permanent results on any skin tone and hair color but on a smaller scale.

Try dr demsky and michael perring they can both do referrals.

hair removal a diode laser or light sheer will work on dark hairs


julie x

Thanks very much Julie.