Is fulltime required before HRT, or can HRT be done before fulltime? Or is this something that has no firm rule in place and is at the discretion of those with the MD or PHD behind their name?

Quote from: meatgrinder on March 29, 2011, 10:29:31 PM
Is fulltime required before HRT, or can HRT be done before fulltime? Or is this something that has no firm rule in place and is at the discretion of those with the MD or PHD behind their name?

Good question.

Of course, I'm no expert.  However, my gender therapist recently told me there is no firm rule.  Also, I've noticed that different people go fulltime at different points.  Some go fulltime before ever being on HRT at all.  Others have been on HRT for a long time, like me, and have not yet gone fulltime. 

My gender counselor said that it is wise for each person to go with their own comfort level and with their own circumstances.  That works for me.  How about for you?  Makes sense, doesn't it? 

In my case, I went through a job loss and financial hassles over the holidays.  So, it took a while to get established in my new job.  Now, I am.  Also, I haven't done any hair removal yet, again, because of circumstances.  I have my for-now wife, her daughter, 3 doggies and 4 kitties depending on me for support.  Also, I'm helping a few other people on the side. 

Their needs come first.  They cannot suffer on account of me.  That's why I've delayed for so long going fulltime.  Originally, I intended to do it in October 2010.  Circumstances got in the way. 

The good news is that I start laser beard removal in late April 2011.  At that time, I'll also get a new and better wig.  Finally, I'm now looking more feminine than in my avatar pic (Thanksgiving Day of 2010) and can now pass more easily. 

Really, there's no hard and firm rule.  Why should there be anyway?  These rules are like Santa Claus meaning they are made up.  It's your life.  It's your circumstances.  It's YOUR choice to go fulltime whenever YOU choose to. 

Just my opinion.  Good luck!

   Lacey Lynne.

Thank you, great info. I'm still very new around here.
I've got no intention of going full time or even out in public presenting as F until I can look the part, glad to know I 'probably won't' be forced to.

I agree its a situation where there is no one correct way to do things. Since I identify as somewhere between genderqueer and female its also not a specifically one direction path way for me. Sorry, I wish that was easier to explain but I am still working trough the details myself. But from what I have been told I could easily go fulltime if I wanted, but I am just not there yet. I totally get what Lacey is saying, I want to make sure that things with my significant other are good and that I more slow for her as well as for my work. In time things will happen.

Overall personally I think HRT before fulltime is a better option. 

I started HRT long before fulltime.  Depending on the person, it could go ether way.  I am all for the person making that decision for themselves.

Some therapists including the health service in the UK want RLT to start before HRT.

Personally I self-medicated before transitioning and before entering an official programme.

Caroline

I'm going to be having "that conversation" with the NHS soon, I'm curious to see what happens (since I don't feel comfortable about changing my clothing style until my body style is changing to fit it). And I'm again reminded of this pithy cartoon:

I've been on HRT for almost 8 months and I haven't gone fulltime. I think it's really up to you and your own comfort zone.  I have a lot of people that I have to interact with on a professonal level.  I have decided to take my time for them and also my family since I am 44 and it would be too much of an adjustment to simply go on girl mode.  Granted I am getting to the point that even in my andro stage I'm beginning to feel frustrated, but I think the slow transition has been the best route for me to take. 
Again, it's about how YOU feel and what's best for YOU.

I think the hesitation about going FT starts to disappear when you are one HRT. Why? You have made the commitment, you are happy, your brain thinks a different way ( I know mine goes to Geez girl you'd look hot in highs and a mini ;Ah yes brain., I'm too old, shut up, but kiss me anyway.) But you also start to act differently. You do become more feminine in thought, and I think it is the anti-androgens that are doing it.

That to say I'm struggling.

Cindy

Quote from: carolinejeo on March 30, 2011, 04:12:20 AM
Some therapists including the health service in the UK want RLT to start before HRT.

Personally I self-medicated before transitioning and before entering an official programme.

Caroline

same

Quote from: meatgrinder on March 29, 2011, 10:29:31 PM
Is fulltime required before HRT, or can HRT be done before fulltime? Or is this something that has no firm rule in place and is at the discretion of those with the MD or PHD behind their name?

Hehe, full time before HRT?  Heck, I was only part time right up until a few weeks before surgery.

As others have said, the timing of going full time is variable and is dependent mostly on you, but also [unfortunately] what your therapist wants to see as well.  Many therapists these days get it that for successful full time one has to have been on HRT for a while.  At least, those are the good therapists.

Some places require you do RLT before HRT. Personaly I think that is torture.
For me I was not willing to go full time until I had determined if hormones were for me. I did not want to live as a woman for months without knowing for sure I was a woman infact and not just in my head.
I was on HRT for 3 months before I went full time. Once I knew that HRT was indeed good for me it was obvious I needed transition.
I can not imagine sending my old male self out into the world trying to live a female life with none of the tools and all the wrong hormones running the show. That is just plain mean if you ask me.

I went fulltime about 19 months after starting HRT. I used to tell people that hormones did away with my ability to be embarrassed.
Really though, I was pretty comfortable making the switch when the time came, and the hormones had given me such a new outlook on life, and a loss of self-consiousness, that things went very well.

I did self medicate for years on and off before stopping and doing things the right way, since then it was almost a full year of real life before being officially prescribed HRT almost 6 weeks ago

Quote from: Padma on March 30, 2011, 04:21:11 AM
I'm going to be having "that conversation" with the NHS soon, I'm curious to see what happens (since I don't feel comfortable about changing my clothing style until my body style is changing to fit it). And I'm again reminded of this pithy cartoon:

Yeah, good luck with that.... You might be okay if you have a understanding GP, but I don't think the GIC people would say yes if you were to ask them.

It is amazing how different countries treat this situation so different.

Medically speaking The standards of care required a 1 year real life test before HRT could be started. However in the United States many people no longer follow this rule because it is outdated. For me to get HRT I only had to do 3 months of regular therapy meetings. I think this is a much better standard than being thrown into the world as a more or less "man in a dress".

I started to transition to part time when I started HRT and over the course of 6 months I spent more and more time out as female. After being on HRT for 8 months I am more or less full time, unless it is for some medical or legal reason where as I haven't changed my name yet.

3b on the SoC quoted above means essentially that, if they follow the WPATH SoC, it is at the discretion of your therapist and Endo, either of whom can decide to be a roadblocker.  How you present yourself to both of them can go a long way in determining how quickly you get that prescription, as does just the lottery of whom you happen to pick out of a hat.

The comic above is totally awesome and illustrates exactly why I think we should never be required to be full-time before HRT.  I was such a mess and so fragile before I ever started therapy that I am 100% positive I wouldn't have made it through any kind of RLE before HRT requirement alive.  Hell, I barely made it as it was.  It is setting us up to fail and, under such guidelines, legitimate cases probably found themselves de-transitioning and going back to hating their existence, or worse.

The hormonal adjustment prior to transitioning not only improved my chances of passing, but it put me in a more stable place emotionally and mentally so that I could actually handle failing to pass without it utterly ruining me.

I was going by the older SOC, I was not sure if had been updated but I am aware no one follows the old ways anymore.

Quote from: Padma on March 30, 2011, 04:21:11 AM

If you read the SoC carefully, you will see that the RLT is required for GRS but not for HRT. There's a section in Susan's Wiki about this.

That being said, I went full-time more than two years before I started hormones. (NOT by therapist's order. It was just MY way of doing it.)