Nonbinary medical transition

[Impala67]

Hi! I was assigned female at birth, and identify as nonbinary. I live in the US, want to medically transition and start T, but I can't find any information on it for people who identify as nonbinary rather than male. I also was wondering how much it costs or if insurance will cover it. If you have medically transitioned: was the process more difficult because you did not identify as male/female? Were you able to start T/HRT? How long does it usually take to start T/HRT? Any info is appreciated!

[Trinity]

Apr 24, 2017 5:07:57 GMT 8 Impala67 said:

Hi! I was assigned female at birth, and identify as nonbinary. I want to medically transition and start T, but I can't find any information on it for people who identify as nonbinary rather than male. I also was wondering how much it costs or if insurance will cover it. If you have medically transitioned: was the process more difficult because you did not identify as male/female? Were you able to start T/HRT? How long does it usually take to start T/HRT? Any info is appreciated!

Where are you located?

Some places go with informed consent.  Others require a letter from a gender therapist, mine did.  I had to wait 4 months for my letter, and was dissapointed in how it was written.  In the end I wound up with a carry letter that identifies me as a nonbinary transgender woman, and says I should be allowed to use the ladies room because of my gender identity.

But in the end, it varies.  Some places you can get it right away, others you wait.

Personally, because of how intense hormones are, I would go the traditional therapist way, but only after researching that therapist to make sure that they understand nonbinary trans.  A lot of them don't.

Mine in NYC does.  The one in FL, did not.  But even then, I got my letter.


It took a while, because the therapist wanted to make sure I wouldn't crack up from the stress of it all.

so  thats how it worked for me here in the States.

Trinity

[Trinity]

I answered it was easy, because by my own standards, I had expected the delay and the extensive therapy. While that may not be interpreted as easy, it was not interference or blocking. I agree with the therapists position on taking our time before going on lifechanging hormones.

As an mtf nonbinary, it is a huge change. I needed to be prepared. Especially on a late transition, with family caught up in my need to transition.

[EchelonHunt]

Disclaimer: I live in Australia and some of the things I mentioned happened in 2008, when transgender gatekeeping and in 2016, non-binary gatekeeping was alive and well. YMMV.

I initially identified as binary FTM, it wasn't until 5 years on T that I realised I was non-binary but still needed to medically transition my body to male in order to feel comfortable. I feel more comfortable being non-binary male than being non-binary female. This is just my experience, it may not be yours or the majority of non-binary folk's experience.

Getting on HRT was a huge struggle. I was forced to wait 4 years, I did not subscribe to the masculine ideals surrounding cis-men, I was a feminine boy and GNC* transpeople are commonly deemed "not trans enough", given stricter guidelines, more hoops to jump through, made to wait longer for HRT/surgery than those who are masculine transmen or feminine transwomen.

I was mentally unstable from years of dysphoria and depression, the psych's decision to delay me HRT just because he thought I "wasn't ready yet" caused me more harm than good. Basically, I lost all faith in psychiatry. My therapist I see for my non-binary stuff, she's cool though. She gets it.

Oh boy, when I came out to my psych as non-binary though in 2016? Straight away, he withdrew his support of me having phalloplasty because he believed if I was non-binary, I should strive for a gender neutral body so aka... bottom surgery was off the table. This horrified me as he had done the one thing I feared he would do. If I ever need to have phalloplasty, it is essential to have a psych letter who is supportive of your decision so the surgeon can go ahead and do the procedure. Needless to say, I ended up going back to identifying as GNC FTM and all was well.

He was pretty adamant that my gender identity HAD to be male in order for me to feel comfortable within my body with a penis and balls. I don't see it that way at all. My gender identity is, for the most part, genderless. It is how my body is wired in terms of sensation and how I see my body physically and sexually; it is male - to me. Forcing me to live with my lower female anatomy despite this, just because I don't fit into your perfect little box of Male or Non-Binary is callous and cruel. We are all different, we have different needs and we have different visions of our bodies. Just because we don't fit your accepted ideal of what a man or a non-binary person is, doesn't mean we're any lesser for it.

In short... it was difficult for me. I could not be openly be non-binary and medically transition to male. I hear in the USA, there is no problem, depending on which state you live in. It makes me happy to hear people who are non-binary and allowed full-access to whatever HRT/surgery they need to alleviate dysphoria, I just wish doctors in Australia followed the same line of thinking... treat the dysphoria, don't get into stupid semantics over gender identity.

*GNC: Gender non-conforming

[Taka]

unless you live in denmark, or a country that forbids transsexualism, it should be possible to find someone who does informed consent or only requires a letter from some psychologist or gender therapist.

depending on where you live, it may be covered by some sort of national health insurance, though in many countries you's have to go through a national system for that, and many of those don't let nb people through.

in other countries, like the us, you'd often need a health insurance that covers your condition. and those a gotten from the right college or university, or job. or from parents with the right job, or.. well, it's a ridiculous system in that way.

anyway. hormones aren't really that expensive, if you can get them. you could easily spend more on tobacco or alcohol, at least in my area.

top surgery is something you can manage to save up for, unless you're truly struggling to make ends meet. bottom surgery is a lot more expensive, and would make many despair.

from what i've heard, quite many countries in europe are letting nb people into their national systems that cover everything that's needed.

telling us what coutry or state you live in would help a lot, as pretty much everything depends way too much on that.