Yesterday, I met a friend of mine who went 'more legit' than me (that is, I got hormones before having therapy, even if prescribed, she went therapy until they approved her for HRT...after four years).

Now what I'll be asking is to confirm or not, what she told me:

-Quebec province doesn't cover any GID-related costs for therapy (they cover all other therapies). ie GID specialists are not covered.

-Only a GID specialist can offer a diagnosis of GID that will be legally considered. (like for name change, SRS referral)

-Five years of first name common usage is not enough to change it legally (still need diagnosis). (in Quebec province)

-Alberta province is worse when it comes to therapy, than Quebec province (not counting SRS referrals, which Alberta does, to have it paid).

-You can get '->-bleeped-<-' about changing your name even post-op and with all documentations (in Quebec again).

-Quebec province pays for SRS in case of intersex, yet they do *everything* they can to make that impossible to get a diagnosis.

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I frankly have not the financial means to go see a GID specialist. I don't want to go see some person for 6 to 10 months to confirm something I know for a fact either. I mean, what do you talk about to a shrink you only want to see to get a piece of paper, when perfectly sane and with no issues to work on? Sounds like a waste of money to me.

I thought about using the bureaucracy against them. If they wanna diagnose me with 302.85 (standard GID diagnosis), then they have to check criteria 4, which stipulates there is no concurrent intersex condition. If they don't check, they're not doing their job right. With a concurrent IS condition, the diagnosis would be 302.60 (GID NOS). If they don't check, they might misdiagnose (as petty as it sounds, they sound pretty petty themselves).

I may not have an intersex condition, but many things lead me to believe I do. I'm not really interested in having it paid by Quebec province. I'd rather move out of here to Alberta. I just want to know if what she said is true, as she knows more about the official route than I do.

Therapists do not need to be gender specialists but they are preferred and should be a persons first choice.  If you read through the Standards of Care (found here https://www.susans.org/wiki/Standards_of_Care_for_Gender_Identity_Disorders) It outlines what and who should be doing what as far as diagnosis is concerned.  The SOC is pretty well universally accepted.  In Ontario therapy is not covered however many insurance companies will cover it along with HRT, but that requires a person to have such insurance.

One other issue to remember is that for the most part a diagnosis of GID is required by surgeons for SRS/GRS; for physicians in order to prescribe HRT,  You do not need a diagnosis of GID to change your name, you can call yourself but any name that you want, what is required is that the application is put through credit bureaus, police agencies, various other government agencies and the application must be notarized by a lawyer or equivalent.  Remember that John Wayne's real name was Marion.

If you are seeing a therapist "Just to get a piece of paper" then you a asking for trouble.  Too often we see those "Who know what's best for me", or think they do.  If you know in your own mind that you have GID then you have nothing to fear and will have no problems when you see a therapist as they will confirm your feelings.  You have nothing to loose and everything to gain.  I used to have the same feelings that "I know what's best for me", "I don't need some over paid shrink to tell me who or what I am".  However, the surgeons won't look at you unless you have the diagnosis, so guess what, I went into therapy and it didn't hurt a bit.  It took two years in my case but what the heck.  Yes it was expensive at $100 per hour session over two years, but hell I'm worth it.

Steph

QuoteIf you are seeing a therapist "Just to get a piece of paper" then you a asking for trouble.

Most people working professionally in psychiatry or psychology told me, outright, that I was perfectly sane, that they had nothing to do with me, that I was all right. They know for a fact they can't 'talk me out' of transitioning, so they don't see it as a treatable issue - so yes they also get irked by the fact that I'm just here for a piece of paper, because it is all their services can get me (what are we supposed to talk about then?)

My HRT is covered here, that's not the issue. But I don't have private insurance of any kind, as I don't currently work. My income also doesn't allow me to pay for it (therapy). Frankly, I'd rather have someone who knows marginally about it write me an official diagnosis after meeting me 3 or 4 times, than someone going 'by-the-book' and waiting months or years before giving me that diagnosis, because of a stupid time requirement with no basis in reality.

Quebec is different from Ontario. Quebec being unique in having a civil law (or napoleonic) system, which means bureaucracy has a lot of decisional power and so the name change, in Quebec, is not decided by courts or judges, but by the Registrar of Civil Status, also responsible for death certificates, marriage certificates and such.

The Registrar of Civil Status doesn't really care about the WPATH SoCs, officially it wants an official diagnosis of GID and proof of hormonal taking (before and after the demand), or a 5 year common usage of the new name.

But it might ignore the 5 year common usage thingy because the person asking is trans, is that true? (I mean, if anyone not transitioning wanted a name change in Quebec province, 5 years common usage would be enough).

Wow... Thats scary about your region and all.

Schala,

Since Micheline Montreil, who certainly has not been diagnosed with GID in any Quebec
GID clinic got her name changed under the 5 year rule after the ruling,
don't know why you would be refused.

Though, they are fickle and arbitrary, so you've got to be patient I suppose.

The only problem is proving you've been using it 5 years. Which
can be hard because many companies don't want to change
the name on anything without the official name change document.

Before Micheline Montreuil's judgement, Quebec gave you
grief if you were a male demanding a female name.
Now, it doesn't matter, you just have to abide by the normal common
usage rule.

You can actually get an evaluation of the possibility of getting your name
changed under a rule by sending in the form the first time with
an explanation of your case. You don't need to publish anything
and spend any money to get this assessment. Only do it
if you think you qualify under one of their cases.

The rule I used was psychological distress, saying I was a TS
under hormones and with FFS
and I couldn't even be recognized as male
anymore and this male name impaired my social integration and I
had to out myself because I had to use it.

I've used my name for 22 months now, I'm pretty short on 5 years, though one wonders what I could use as proof of name usage. I can have some friends testify, who saw me pre and during and post transition to my using the name, my family doctor too I guess...but no employer or such. And yeah I have the same issue, can't pass as male (not like it's a problem in itself) though that's subjective when using it as legal leverage.