I'm an FTM trans person from Ontario, Canada. I have recently came out to all of the important people in my life and am ready to begin my transition. I have done a lot of research on transitioning but I'm really unsure of the process. I know that it's different for everyone, but how did most of you go about it? Namely, how did you guys start HRT? That's what I'm mainly concerned about right now. I want to start T asap.

Thanks!

Seth, I'm am MTF person from Ontario.  One thing you'll possibly need to start T is a letter from a gender therapist.  I have a good one.  I also have some other information that might help.  PM me...

Seth can not send PM's as he doesn't have 15 relevant posts.

haha, yes. I'm not very good with this site either (not exactly tech savy)

I tried to email you or something to that extent. Not sure if it worked...

I got your email and replied.  Let me know if you got the reply (we can communicate very nicely by email, I think...)

BTW, Seth... WELCOME!  You are among family here.

Hi Seth, I'm an FTM from Ontario, too.

I went to my family doctor and she referred me to an endocrinologist. She said I wouldn't need to see a psychiatrist to start T. I have yet to meet the endo, though, so I guess I'll find out.

I'm from Ontario too dude i havent got on T, but i want to start asap. this is also a question, id like answered haha I think though in ontario you need a psychiatrists note saying that your mentally ready for T

Hey Seth! Pleasure to meet you! Although I'm not Canadian myself, and I'm sorry if I have no place here giving you advice, but I think that no matter where you are, the fundamentals of "the process" are pretty similar...

I'm not sure how the medical system works in Canada, but in the UK most people's healthcare is covered by the NHS, and that includes things like medical bills as well as any counseling or therapy required by the patient.

Basically, the first step will probably be speaking to your family doctor and explaining the situation. Depending on whether or not they've encountered trans patients before, they may ask how to proceed; over here, the process involves the doctor writing to a general psychiatrist-type person who will have a longer consultation with you, getting things like medical and family history as well as more specifics about your gender history. They'll normally ask a bunch of other routine questions to get a picture of your mental health, to kind of make sure that there are no other conditions that could be influencing your feelings (schizophrenia, etc.) A report usually gets written and forwarded to the nearest gender clinic, which for me was London Charing Cross, and they'll then arrange an initial consultation with you. This part of the process could take anywhere from 3 months to a year, if not longer!

The gender clinic consultation is pretty much like the previous appointments; by this point, you should be so used to reeling off your life story that it shouldn't be too difficult Again, not sure how it works in Canada, but depending on the standards of care that your clinic follows, they may require 3 months of gender-specialist counseling or a period of "real life experience" before they start talking to you about T. They'll probably want to see you about periodically from this point on, to discuss progress and getting a T script when applicable.

This is kind of an abridged explanation, and again, I do apologise if I'm sticking my nose where it don't belong, seeing as I don't have much of an idea as to how things work in Canada I've heard stories from guys describing a similar process from all over the world, but on the other hand (as Jeh mentioned) I've also heard of people able to get on T without ever seeing a psychiatrist. I guess it just depends on your doctor?

Best of luck with everything, dude

I'm in the states, but for me:
Step 1- therapy which led to being allowed to do:
Step 2- Top surgery after which I stopped therapy.

Step 3- get hormones... My mom actually went to the trans conference (I was working) and found the name of a trans center in the city.  We went.  They emailed my therapist from before and as I'd already had top surgery there wasn't much hassle or questioning or a need for more therapy.

Step 4- hired a lawyer to do my name change.  He was a transman who has done many trans name changes in the past, and thus has also done many gender marker changes.  Did the whole thing in one day in court and it was over and done with.  I am now officially Male.

Step 5- hopefully some day get a dick.

Another Ontarian here too. We should start a club :3

Ah... I don't have much else to say, as I haven't stated transitioning, but Imma keep an eye on this thread for future reference.

Yet another.  Just crawling out of the woodwork here, aren't we?

Haven't a clue what you need, as I've not done more than put a toe outside my closet on the odd occasion, though I've redecorated it several times.

Quote from: hyenateeth on January 08, 2011, 03:50:59 PM
Hey Seth! Pleasure to meet you! Although I'm not Canadian myself, and I'm sorry if I have no place here giving you advice, but I think that no matter where you are, the fundamentals of "the process" are pretty similar...

Nothing like what it is in the States. I had name change and RLE long before therapist and T. Therapist knew I was only there for the letters and gave it to me on second visit along with name of an endo. I don't need to go back til I can afford surgery.

Quote from: LordKAT on January 08, 2011, 05:45:31 PM
Nothing like what it is in the States. I had name change and RLE long before therapist and T. Therapist knew I was only there for the letters and gave it to me on second visit along with name of an endo. I don't need to go back til I can afford surgery.

Ah, pardon my ignorance! I'm not actually from the States, though... I live in England, where it's where it's also acceptable to have RLE/change your name/etc. before anything else happens (s'what I did, too!). Sorry, I probably should have just left it to people who know the Canadian system, but I figured it couldn't hurt to give an idea as to what might be involved... but I digress, it's good to know the process is more straightforward in Canada. 

Thanks for all the imput I'm pretty sure that the process is a lot different for every province nevermind all the different countries. RLE isn't mandatory here in ON, right? I was told you can get coverage by doing it, but you can start T anytime (as long as you have a letter from a gender therapist) correct?

Quote from: Jeh on January 08, 2011, 02:42:34 PM
Hi Seth, I'm an FTM from Ontario, too.

I went to my family doctor and she referred me to an endocrinologist. She said I wouldn't need to see a psychiatrist to start T. I have yet to meet the endo, though, so I guess I'll find out.

I think I know the endo you're talking about. I went with informed consent as well.

It's amazing how many more FTMs here are from Ontario. Back when I first was posting I think I was the only one around.

You can do the informed consent thing in Ontario, then?

I'm afraid I would confuse a therapist, who would then think I was confused, and tell me to go away.  I am not incredibly good at expressing myself; specialists of any sort do not like people wasting their time, in my experience.

First of all you need your letter to start T, obviously. Now in my case I just went to a regular therapist not one specialized in gender therapy. This was due to the fact that there wasn't any therapist that specialized in gender therapy in my area. If you can't find one who specializes in gender therapy just start calling up therapists and explain that you are transgendered and are looking to get your letter to start hormone therapy. More often than not you are going to make a lot of phone calls because not all therapist are comfortable working with transgendered people. Once you find one then you will usually be in therapy a minimum of three months in order to get your letter, or it could be longer based on what your therapist sees fit. They will usually follow the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care. This is the guide that therapist follow when dealing with transgendered people, there are many revisions of this and I believe it is on its sixth version now. If you are curious as to what guidelines your therapist will be using while treating you, Google the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care. My therapist required me to take a MMPI-2 (The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) this is a multiple choice test to make sure you are not mentally unstable and some therapist require you to take this before they will write your letter. My therapist also recommended I watch videos and documentaries on FTM's and get involved in the transgendered community which I did, the more things you do like this the sooner they will write your letter. Also I believe it was required in the past to be living as male for at least a year which I was but I think in the sixth revision of the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care this requirement has changed due to the fact that for some transguys with larger chests it is near impossible to pass and live as male before top surgery. If you have been living as male for at least a year this will definitely help you get your letter sooner. Once you have been seeing your therapist for the minimum of three months (could be longer but at least three months) they will diagnose you with GID (Gender Identity Disorder) and usually shortly after they will write you your letter to begin hormone therapy.

The next step is finding a trans-friendly endocrinologist. This is usually tricky, finding an endo who will treat transgendered people, well at least it was for me. More often than not expect to do some driving as there is usually only one or two in the state or province. Once you find one you will take your letter to start T to them or have your therapist fax it over. In most cases you are given your prescription to start T on the first visit but in some cases the first visit is just a check up, they run some tests and then you get your prescription the next visit. Once you get your prescription you will be able to get your T. It very rare for insurance to cover T so plan on paying out of pocket. If it is in shot form to get it filled at a pharmacy it runs around $140.00. I use a compound pharmacy called the Apothecary Shop and get mine filled for $49.50, that includes everything including overnight shipping. You should be able to find there website by Googling The Apothecary Shops. Since you reside in Canada I am not sure if they will ship to you but it is worth a shot but if they don't there is probably other compounding pharmacies that are around the same price that will.

This is the process here in the States, but like it was mentioned above it could differ. If you have any more questions bro let me know.

Quote from: Kareil on January 09, 2011, 10:42:31 PM
You can do the informed consent thing in Ontario, then?

I'm afraid I would confuse a therapist, who would then think I was confused, and tell me to go away.  I am not incredibly good at expressing myself; specialists of any sort do not like people wasting their time, in my experience.

Absolutely. The endo I saw was very empathetic btw.

However I would seriously think about it before you make a final decision. I have my reasons for going with informed consent, however I wouldn't dismiss therapy entirely. You can also go with informed consent and take psychological therapy at the same time.

Informed consent is available, just make sure you're ready for it if you choose to take it.