Feels like its been forever...

[prtyldy]

So Anna has been sick and depressed since Friday. Nothing adds to a severe case of the blues like a severe case of the flu, right? Its been lots of fun (sarcasm doesnt translate too well over the internet, does it?). But things are slowly returning to a state of normalcy, or what passes for it in my life anyway

Comments

[imago_01]

American therapists who see a lot of trans people usually don't advise them to wait to take hormones until they've been full-time, though they do need to be in therapy for a while (how long seems to vary, but I can't speak to that really because Melanie's never actually seen a therapist). Not giving people hormones until they've been full-time for a while seems to be a peculiar horror of the British health care system.

And yeah, if she's been wearing girl clothes at home since she was 6, she'll have no trouble convincing them she's gender dysphoric!

Does Anna have health insurance? If she does, the therapist thing will be easier. But if not, some charge on a sliding scale. And if she still can't afford a therapist, there are ways... As I said, Melanie has never seen a therapist... Although going that route is not advisable unless absolutely necessary.

[prtyldy]

Anna does have health insurance, but the therapist I found for her sees mostly trans people and doesnt take insurance at all for privacy reasons. This is the American health care system horror... As soon as the medical world in general finds out Anna is a tgirl she is unlikely to ever get insurance again unless it is specifically provided by her employer. She will be considered high risk, and no one wants to insure the high risk because they are less likely to make money off the person. GRR! Fortunantely the therapist uses a sliding scale, and offered to charge us half the going minimum rate, so we will actually be able to afford it!

As for the "ways" that so many trans people use... I dont think that would be advisable for Anna. She has some other health problems, and we think she may have diabetes, so we DEFINITELY want her monitored by a doctor. =)

Anyway, I am super excited!

[imago_01]

Yow! Yeah, mixing diabetes/other serious health care issues with HRT without medical supervision would NOT be a good idea! I guess Melanie's lucky in that she's relatively healthy.

We're looking into finding a therapist for her, too, incidentally. She's been having a lot of body-image issues lately and we're thinking of potentially getting her an orchiectomy further down the line, and she'd need a letter from a therapist for that. [Orchie = surgical removal of the testicles. She wants to have GRS but we won't be able to afford that for a LONG while, and the orchie would cut out the need for anti-androgens and make her a little bit more comfortable with her body.]