Hi Matilda,
Welcome!
When I started transition, it was necessary to get a formal diagnosis from a psychiatrist. A lot of places now just do the informed consent model - Equinox included, I believe. They will probably want a baseline of your blood, and a few other assessments first.
I know it's unsolicited advice, but my advice would be to take your transition slowly. You might not need those surgeries.
It's more than just a medical process - it's a big social change too, for both you and the people you care about around you. There is lots to think about and a lot of things in your life will change.
Unless you already look very female, transition also takes time. Expect to spend a least a year (maybe two) living somewhere between genders, unrecognisable as either male or female. Young kids would sometimes ask me on the train whether I was a girl or a boy. I didn't really have an answer - at least not one that would satisfy them. People would call me ma'am and sir, often in the same sentence.
Just when I got used to being a person somewhere between genders, suddenly I wasn't anymore. Everyone just reads me as female, no matter how I dress or present - which means they also expect me to behave like one... and generally society tends to punish people who don't conform with gender roles.
People assume lots of things about my history and background that just aren't true. It takes a long time to learn all the social cues and adjust to all the good and bad that comes with being female in Australian society. My point is, don't underestimate the social and emotional changes.
I spent a good 6 months trying to sort out some of the TERF arguments in my head, strangely. On the day that I changed my employee record from male to female, the average wage of women in my department increased. The number of women in leadership positions increased. I can see how TERF's might see that as male privilege interfering with feminist issues. It took me a while to realise that gender oppression intersects more just biological axes of privilege.
FFS and SRS are major milestones, and they are expensive. I recovered from FFS very quickly but SRS took a good 8 months out of my life while everything revolved around dilating. I dilated at conferences, in the first aid room at work, at airport lounges, disabled toilets. 3 times a day for an hour for months and months on end. It's a huge commitment. And it's not like you walk out of hospital with a vagina. You walk out with a massive wound that heals into a vagina over 1-2 years.
Maybe try the HRT and see if you like the effects before planning everything out for the next 12 months?
Hope all goes well with your appointment. Please come back and let us know how you go.
I'm living in Sydney at the moment, but Melbourne is my real home. Happy to have a chat in person sometime over a coffee.
All the best for your journey.
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