The world turns…
Posted by: Ryan on: April 9, 2008
- In: transition
- Comment!
Work is sending me to Sydney for some training in just over a week. It runs from Tuesday 22nd to Thursday 24th, and I thought, wouldn’t it be GREAT if I could get an appointment to have my psychiatric evaluation done on the 25th?
Of course, I couldn’t because the 25th is Anzac Day, but when I sounded completely shattered by this reminder, the receptionist was so nice, she gave me an appointment on the 21st.
Then I called the endocrinologist, and asked for an appointment, only to discover that there weren’t any until late June. I apologised for wasting the receptionists time, and said I would try to call another endo. She asked me what the appointment was for, and I said ‘transsexuality’, and she said “Oh, well that is very urgent isn’t it! Don’t worry, I’ll fix it for you.” So she put me on hold, and came back with an appointment on the 30th of April.
So over the next three weeks I will get to change my name legally, get my psychiatric evaluation done, and then see my endocrinologist for the first time.
The best thing about the conversation with the endocrinologist was her saying that my situation is ‘urgent’. I have been having a feeling of real urgency for several weeks now, and it was good to have that validated. My mother attempted to talk me out of going on T for 12 months. She said “There’s no hurry, you know what is wrong now, so how can it hurt to wait and be *really* sure?”
My life has been on hold for years now, because I haven’t been able to really live. I have been flip-flopping back and forth like a fish out of water, slowly suffocating in my gender role. I’ve never known what I want to do with myself. It all seemed too hard. Life seemed pointless, and meaningless.
Now that I have a direction, I have a career, I have friends, and a lover, and a plan for my future… I don’t want to pause for another 12 months. I took my time to make this decision, and now that I am sure I plan on simply moving forward.
I am 22… not getting any younger. If I need or want to start over again in another place, with another job, as a man, semi-stealth… then I want to make sure that I can do that *sooner* rather than *later*. I want my certifications to be for Ryan S****. I want my referees to say “HE was a good worker. We’re sorry to have lost HIM.”
Besides. I want my squeaky high voice to deepen, and I really want to grow a beard. I FEEL PRE-PUBESCENT!
21 Responses to "The world turns…"
Congrats on the appointments by the way!
I’ve already had my name changed once…by my mum when I was a kid. I don’t think they really care in Australia, so long as your paperwork is in order.
The actual law says that you can adopt a new name without doing the paper work, but in practice that doesn’t really work. Its much easier to rock up, pay $100, and get the Change of Name Certificate, which can then be used to change over all your other ID.
Thanks for the congrats! I’m very excited!
Jacky: That’s such a screwed up system. That would have caused so many problems in the first year I was hormones, not being able to have accurate ID and such.
Screwed up indeed. I do foresee problems crossing the border into the US for example, after 6 months on T when I might look fairly male but still have F and a female name on my passport . . . .
Our bureaucrats don’t understand our realities at all.
Are you going to go for shots or patches/gel/some other product?
Theres an interesting discussion on one of the livejournal communities at the moment, cos someone was saying how shots work faster, and a bunch of guys wrote in like “OMG! 2 months on gel and my voice has broken!” and other examples.
So I am seriously considering patches or gel instead of shots. Shots are cheaper though, I think.
I’ll see what the endo says too.
I’m pretty sure I’ll go for shots just because it seems to be the general recommendation. I’ve heard gel works for some better than for others. The pain in the ass thing is that you have to let it penetrate, I think, before getting dressed. Or maybe I heard wrong. I’ll also see what the endo recommends.
Thats true, I am pretty disorganised, so adding a compulsory 15 minutes to my shower routine would suck. 
Ryan, does your change of name also include a change of the gender marker? If yes, than that indeed is some advanced government process down there. As far as I know, I can change my name in BC, Canada to whatever the hell I want, but the gender marker change is a different ball game.
My understanding is that you can change the gender marker after the name change, everywhere EXCEPT medicare and births, deaths and marriages.
For the final change, you have to have had HRT and top surgery.
(So you can change it with your employer, bank, on your drivers license, but not passport, doctors office, etc)
That also depends on the state of your birth, and/or state of your residence as well, cos we have a complicated three tier government here, and I know not every where is as nice as the ACT.
Interesting, thanks! The Canadian province where I was born requires 12 months of recent residency (I haven’t lived there since 1977), HRT, top and hysto for the gender marker change. I’m not pleased. I’m not certain, but I assumed I could not get my driver’s license gender marker changed without my birth certificate changed first. I will definitely look into this!
Actually, I asked a local transguy, and I was correct in everything, except for the final marker change you need a hysto as well.
He’s having a one man protest by not having a hysto. Not something I would do, but bravo anyway. 
Personally, I’m not bothered in the least by my internal organs, and requiring a hysto seems like a real abuse of power to me. From what I understand (more research required) some Canadian provinces require hysto while others don’t. The whole premise of transgenderism is that gender is not determined by organs or chromosomes, so why should I have to undergo risky surgery–at tax payer expense? To prove something to unbelievers? I certainly respect people’s choice to have whatever surgery they want, it’s the governments’ requirements that piss me off.
I used to be on this quest to rid myself of my uterus. I’ve been trying to convince a doctor to take it since I was about 16, and haven’t had any luck.
That now I will be required to have it removed before being allowed to fully register as male is an irony which is not entirely lost on me.
Especially cos if I can have T, and top surgery I care less about the hysto, which I primarily wanted to stop the eeevil estrogen.
Oh and by the way, congratulations–this is going to be a BIG 3 weeks coming up for you!!!
I KNOW!!!!
T-minus 6 days to my psych evaluation! *SQUEE*
Glad to see *squee* is not strictly a local phenomenon ; )
Guys, I saw my endo yesterday and he confirmed what I thought about the gel. He mentioned that if I’m one of those people (I am) who is always in a rush in the morning, it’s probably not very practical. It’s also more expensive apparently. He also told me that there *are* some medically sound reasons for getting a hysto after taking T for a while but he explained it in medical jargon that lost me and I wanted to cut to the chase about my current situation so I will save a deeper (HA!) questionning for the future.
G.O. – hope the testo is working out well for you.
Ryan – best of luck at your psych appointment.
I think that the primary reason for having a hysto after being on T for a while is because of a massively increased cancer risk. I plan on getting rid of mine at some point in the next three years… My mum’s had one cos of three different cancers cropping up, so I suspect I am at higher risk anyway, even without hormones.
Also, Jacky, my boyfriend tells me that Montreal and Quebec are in Canada. I thought that they were in the US and Middle East respectively. I fail geography apparently.
Quite right, removal of the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes decreases the risk for gynecological tumors. Long term use of T increases the chances of developing Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which is associated with endometrial, breast and ovarian cancer. With the increased risk, and sometimes a family history of cancer, some doctors recommend a complete hysto within 2-5 years of starting HRT.
If you haven’t already, grab a copy of Medical Therapy & Health Maintenance for Transgender Men. It’s written for doctors. I had two copies printed and bound at a local office supply store, and gave one to my GP. It’s an excellent reference, and fairly recent.
Well, that’s pretty convincing for me. I was hesitant but if there’s a cancer risk, I would certainly consider a hysto.
Ryan: Yes, we are in Canada. Montreal is a city in the province of Quebec. There is also Quebec City, which is (surprise) in the province of Quebec as well.
Hopefully, your endo would discuss risks with you. Mine didn’t, and didn’t ask me anything about what I knew about T. There was no informed consent form. As she was ushering me out after a 15 min appt, I had to ask her if she’d go back in and sit with me to answer MY questions. You have to take your health into your own hands, so I strongly recommend that book available at nickgorton.org.
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1 | Jacky V.
April 9, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Wow, neat that you can change your name before taking T. In Quebec, one can either go the route anyone takes to change their name (proof of having used the new name for 5 years) or, for transsexuals, have a letter from the psych, and proof that you’ve been on hormones for about a year.