';1. How much does it cost?
2. How long does it take to heal?
3. What effect does the hormones have on my body?
4. Will I always have to take hormones or will my body start producing them?
5. Will I start to grow boobs or will I need implants?
6. How long is the surgery?
7. What are the major Risk of the Surgery?
8. Do they put you to sleep or numb you for the surgery?
9. Is there a way for me to store my sperm till me and my girl friend are ready to have a kid?';
And before anyone asks, I'm a girl, and I'm fine with it. I'm bisexual, and I love her no matter what she looks like. And I'm ready to support her for the rest of her life.
Oh, and were Canadian, in Ontario.
And I'm not looking for homophobia and idiocy.My ';girl';friend wants a sex change/gender reassignment surgery, but has a couple of questions?
It's insulting of you to put the word girl in quotations, it is a sign of disrespect.
Transition is a long process, nobody transitions overnight. My transition took 4.5 years and $80,000. You live in Canada, but trans care can still be hard to come by. Just finding a gender therapist is quite a chore. Ontario just re-listed SRS, but it will be controlled by the infamous CAMH which has a history of mistreating transsexual people. They are supposedly working on reforming the place, but be careful.
1. Not sure about costs in Canada. If you get approved for surgery the province should pay for surgery, but I understand you have to fund your own travel to Montreal. The clinic in Montreal is run by Dr Pierre Brassard. He is one of the top SRS docs in the world.
2. Healing time varies and it depends on what you're referring to. Most people can go back to light work in a couple weeks. Full activity in 6-8 weeks. However, the body will continue to heal and adjust to it's new status for up to two years. By 2 years out she will be essentially the same as any other women who's had a hysterectomy.
3. Hormones will feminize her body over time.
4. HRT is for life. After SRS you're body will produce almost no hormones. You need some for your body to remain healthy.
5. It varies. Some get enough natural growth, but I think a slim majority of us do not. And hence breast augmentation surgery may be necessary if she wants it.
6. Typically 3 hours. If she has a breast augmentation at the same time obviously it would be longer.
7. Besides anesthesia the major risk of surgery is from complications like blood loss or a recto-vaginal fistula. However, these risks are very rare (As long as she goes to a major surgeon like Brassard). There is always a risk of losing sensation as well, but again that is quite rare.
8. Surgeons almost always put the patient to sleep, but there are exceptions. I had a friend who had throat surgery complications and could not be intubated, so they used spinal anesthesia on her. I think they also gave her some valium to relax her. Unless she has a similar history your girlfriend will sleep through surgery.
9. Yes, she can store sperm. I don't know how they handle sperm banking in Canada, but here in the US it can be expensive.
For the writer of this question: If you're fine with it drop the quotation marks.
Hope this helps.My ';girl';friend wants a sex change/gender reassignment surgery, but has a couple of questions?
You two really need to talk to a professional about this. Find a doctor in your area that will do that and talk to him/her. S/he'll be able to answer all the questions.
It's polite to alway refer to her as she, and to not put quotes around girl. She is your girlfriend.
1. How much does it cost?
I believe that the Canadian government covers the cost. But I'm not really sure - I live in the U.S.
2. How long does it take to heal?
Weeks to months.
3. What effect does the hormones have on my body?
Soften skin, grow breasts, redistribute body fat, change mood, atrophy the penis, increased risk of some kinds of cancer (probably things like testicular cancer)
4. Will I always have to take hormones or will my body start producing them?
Always
5. Will I start to grow boobs or will I need implants?
She will grow them, most likely to the size that women in her family have.
6. How long is the surgery?
????
7. What are the major Risk of the Surgery?
The biggest risk is with the anesthesia, which if not done properly can be fatal. make sure there's a good anesthesiologist and be fully honest about medical history. Otherwise, it's possible that the surgeon could mess up and give less-than-ideal results. The likelihood depends entirely on the surgeon, with the best it's very likely to go very well.
8. Do they put you to sleep or numb you for the surgery?
Yes.
9. Is there a way for me to store my sperm till me and my girl friend are ready to have a kid?';
Yes.
1) Depends on what you are getting. I'm going in the other direction, so prices are a bit different for me. My hormones are paid for my my insurance company, it's about $150-$200 a month. I only pay $12 co pay. Top surgery for me costs about 7-10 grand. And bottom a whopping 70 to 100 grand. I'm guessing that the hormones would be in the same price range, but getting implants are cheaper than getting a mastectomy. I would ballpark that at about 5 grand. And I've heard of trans women getting lower surgery for about 16 grand. It's quite refined, the surgery for transwomen.
2) That will most likely depend on how fast a healer you are. Check out this t girl who is documenting her surgery on youtube. I think you will get a good idea from that how the recovery is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Cg9ATZJ鈥?/a>
3) There are a lot of changes, look at is as going through a female puberty. Your emotions will heighten, your sex drive decrease, your skin will get softer, you will have more weight around the hips, you will start to develop breasts. Some effects of testosterone are irreversible, like voice deepening. Others cn be combated, electrolysis to get rid of body or facial hair permanently. Of course I don't know how much this applies to you.
4) if you have your testes removed, your body will no longer be able to make it's own hormones. So yes, you will need to take hormones for life. Whether or not that is testosterone, or estrogen you can change your mind (though I'm not saying you would)
5) You will see breast development, I don't know how much though. I don't know if some trans women go on to grow their own double ds, I don't know if the average is a cup. I dunno. I know some women are satisfied with their growth, and some go on to get implants.
6) A couple hours I believe.
7) you should discuss that with your surgeon, but like all major surgeries I'm pretty sure it's along the lines of you might get a massive blood infection and die type of thing.
8) Again, a question for your surgeon.
9) Yes, you can store your sperm.
Just as a disclaimer, I'm sure one of my female contacts who are themselves of a transsexual history could answer better than I have, but since I know a bit I decided can't hurt.
And I could pretty much right a 15 page paper on just some of the issues, an considerations that trans people face, an should think about, so doing some research and googling, an watching youtube videos will be well worth her while. Good luck.
1. in canada? i hate you and your universal health care system! down here in the states, two and a half years ago the surgery itself cost me 17.5K.
2. within about six months i was functioning pretty normally. about a year i was pretty much all over it.
3. hrt depends. as leah likes to say...';your mileage may vary.'; you can count on at least some breast development, some redistribution of fatty tissue, somewhat thinner body hair and some softening of the skin. the key here is...it's a crap shoot. everybody is different and the drugs affect each of us in different ways and to different degrees.
4. you will not ';start to produce them';, your body already makes a little estrogen and it won't start making more. you will, however; be able to decrease your dosage after surgery...for obvious reasons.
5. you will have some breast development...many women do opt for ba %26lt;breast augmentation%26gt;
6. my surgery lasted a little over three hours...or so they tell me.....i wheeled into the or at 9am and it was something after two...they tell me, that i started wondering where i was and what was happening.
7. that's a biggie....there is risk to every surgery. this is major surgery. with the right surgeon and the right hospital and staff the risk is no greater than....you know what? i think i'll just shut up about this....your surgeon will be quite specific with you about this.
8. yes, dearie.....you go off to dreamland to one last time go to sleep hoping the gender fairy will come and make it all go away....and this time? she will.
9. yes...you can consult with dispensers of that service prior to surgery.
Before you start asking these questions your girlfriend has a long road ahead of her.
How about therapy. Has she started to talk to one yet or does she still need to find one?
http://www.drbecky.com/therapists.html
http://www.lauras-playground.com/gender_鈥?/a>
Therapy is the first and perhaps most important part of transition, and trust me she will need the support.
There are so many things that need to be done before surgery. Have you considered
Name Change, Legal Documents, Important Records that need changed, coming out to family school employer, and the list goes on. What about her voice? She can look gorgeous but if she sounds like Bob the Sailor she will never be accepted by society as a woman.
Transition is a long and very expensive process even with your health care system. It is emotionally draining at times. You need to be ready to loose every one in your life and everything.
I suggest she read these two sites. The first is perhaps the best on the web for factual information.
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/c鈥?/a>
This one, while I personally do not agree with every thing the author says does make the person thinking of transition ask themselves some hard questions.
If they can not be honest with themselves in the answers they should not be considering transition.
http://www.mtftransition.com/t-girl.htm
I am not trying to be mean but the list of questions leeds me to think she is no where ready to undertake something so serious as transition. Transition is real, its hard, and there is no going back.
I'm an Ontario Transman, and can sort of answer your questions... I'm reading this as your girlfriend is a transwoman? Yes... growing breasts... womanly transitioning. OK!
1) Depends on your insurance coverage. I had private insurance as well as OHIP and now SRS is covered again, so she'll be able to apply for some assistance there. Just not in the early stages or with hormones. And a friend told me the cost of premarin just went up... The trick to private insurance is to not tell them what it's all for. The less information they have the better off you will be.
2) Surgery? Everyone's different. A few months is the usual guess. Two or three the last time I heard.
3) Hormones will give you the female puberty you should have had while shutting down all the male functionality. You'll become sterile quickly and your genitals will shrink (how much I'm not sure). You'll probably start to grow breasts and any hair loss you had will either slow or stop. Any hair growth you had... slows I think... but you'll need electrolysis to remove it entirely (usually).
4) Hormones are for life... you sadly don't have ovaries to produce estrogen for you.
5) It depends on what your body does with the hormones. I know a transwoman who has D maybe DD breasts after one year of on and off HRT. Most ladies get an A or B...
6) I think it can be done in four hours. The Montreal Clinic has a website (that's where you'd find the best Canadian doctors) with more details... http://www.grsmontreal.com/
7) It's surgery. It holds the same risks as any surgery.
8) General anesthesia. Always general.
9) Yup. Deposit it in a fertility clinic before starting HRT. There's a risk of it going ';bad'; after too long... but you can find doctors who will help you out with that. Speak to your endocrinologist (the one who will be giving you hormones) about that BEFORE starting HRT.
Oh and, stay away from CAMH! If you're in Toronto watch out for them. They are not the sort you want to deal with. I've heard of Sherbourne Health Center as a better alternative.
1. How much does it cost?
It depends on how long it takes to transition and who your surgeon is. There are many costs involved in transition.
2. How long does it take to heal?
Complete healing can take up to two years.
3. What effect does the hormones have on my body?
There will be some breast growth(Acup or maybe a Bcup) Skin will become softer, you will have redistribution of fatty tissue, there could be emotional changes, body hair will become thinner but will not completely go away, HORMONES WILL NOT CHANGE THE VOICE
4. Will I always have to take hormones or will my body start producing them?
You will have to take estrogen the rest of your life if you want to remain healthy.
5. Will I start to grow boobs or will I need implants?
See answer to question #3
6. How long is the surgery?
My surgery took about three hours
7. What are the major Risk of the Surgery?
A recto-vaginal fistula, blood loss, but these are very rare. But you should discuss these issues with the surgeon.
8. Do they put you to sleep or numb you for the surgery?
They will put you under a general anesthesia, (you will be unconscious)
9. Is there a way for me to store my sperm till me and my girl friend are ready to have a kid?';
Yes you should talk to a fertility clinic
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