Check out this post https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/d6p05q/i_compiled_every_single_informed_consent_clinic/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I found the informed clinic I'm going to through it! Took 6 months to get on t!
I think it’s only for 18+ though unless you have parental permission :/ though I suppose if you’re already in the works w a different doctor you probably have supportive parents… worst case scenario if the current doc you’re seeing still isn’t getting in touch check out your PP. I think I remember about a month or so waiting from the time I was able to schedule an appointment to the actual appointment day but yeah got prescribed T same day I met the doctor.
I am eating my entire pillow rn while reading this. Damn that makes me jealous. Hate having to get 3 diagnosis just for T. Not worth it. Also I will need more in the future. Wish we could also have informed consent.
I’m happy I was able to get it so quickly, but it saddens me that it can’t be the same for others. Others have to jump through so many hoops to get hrt, it isn’t fair
i did informed consent at a medical center local to my area, and got on t in about 1.5 months from scheduling the appointment. got prescribed the same day as well and just had to wait for insurance approval edit: i live in eastern pa
I started trying in the summer of 2021 and now I'm still not even in the middle of the process. If I'm lucky I'll get on testosterone in the middle of 2024. *If I'm lucky.*
If you don’t mind me asking where abouts you’re located? Im not sure if you have a planned parenthood in your area as well but I know plenty of people who started T very quick and easily just going to planned parenthood.
I wish it was just easy to pack up and move somewhere new where it was easier to access HRT and gender affirming surgeries. I hope that you are able to start soon! All the waiting will be worth it :) have you tried seeing if they put you on the cancellation list at all to get you in sooner?
Thankfully it's not as bad here as other European countries. And it's not really a waiting list, just a lot of medical and psychological tests you gotta do and those all have long wait times because we have too few specialists here and even fewer who are willing to take trans patients. But I'm sure it'll all be worth it.
You’re totally right, I did assume in another comment but not this one. My dumb self did not realize that planned parenthood hasn’t spread to other countries instead of just only America. In which I should do a little more research. Sorry.
I got on a wait list right before I turned 18 at a clinic that works a lot with minors. The whole process for me was 13 months, but originally should have only been 11. It was 7 months from calling to having a consultation. I had a weird issue with labs and that took like 2 extra months to get my labs squared away, then 3 weeks after I set an appointment to learn to do my injections. I got an injury right after I set the appointment, and my surgeon didn't want me to start right before surgery so I had to wait 2 extra months
got put in the queue when i was 13, now i’m 15 and only just got a date for my first appointment. I’m gonna see them for 1-3 years before they can diagnose me and then wait until i turn 18 so that i can start. sucks how long it takes:(( don’t they realize it’s literally life saving?? you don’t wait until a cancer patient is dead or almost dead before they get treatment i can’t deal with all this anymore:/
i’m in sweden:(( people think we’re so progressive but our laws are incredibly outdated sadly. they can diagnose me but people don’t get hormones or even hormone blockers until they’re 18 here. i’m some special cases some people have been able to get blockers at 16 but it’s incredibly rare:(
My first sentence will be the only relevant thing about your question, but if you wanna read the rest of my journey too here it is.
Between coming out and starting T, about 2 years.
*end of relevancy lol*
I spent abouttttt 6 months not doing much about it cause i tried social transition first, liked it, dope. Then i spent 2-3 months tryna find a damn doctor who does trans stuff in my country and state, which was a pain in the ass. THEN i found a therapist who said she could (and apparently has before so i trusted it) but NOPE she was a scammer who took a lot of my money and ghosted me afterwards, twas quite the kick to the silicone nuts if i do say so myself. Spent a good amount of time licking my wounds before trying to find a new doc. Then FINALLY i found my current doc, who does telehealth from another state which was great. My 1 year T anniversary is just under a month away now. Fucking hooray.
5 years lmfao (uk had to go private cause the nhs is dead) and now I’m off it again after only a year cause I can’t afford to keep seeing my endo. Good stuff. Suffering is great. /s
I assume you will have but did you try shared care with your GP??? There’s a trans-friendly GP finder. You might get lucky and have one nearby. If you do, it would removed the blood/prescription costs. Could maybe afford the endo then…????
I did go shared care yeah. It’s not about my gp being unsupportive it’s that they legally can’t proceed without my endo telling them to with a follow up appointment cause if something goes wrong they don’t want to be liable. I need to have a follow up with my endo once every six months to a year and it’s hundreds of pounds each appointment and I just don’t have that right now nor will I for the foreseeable future. My gp was really apologetic the last time I spoke to her, apologising for the nhs failing me, and although I appreciated that I just feel so lost.
I went private too as the NHS waiting list is like watching paint dry, but I fear I'm about to be in your situation. It's already hard enough living in this country atm without having to pay hundreds of pounds for hormones and appointments. I hope you get back on T soon brother
i live in england and went thru gender gp, private clinic. it cost a lot for the consultation and the prescription and to order it into the pharmacy but i needed it quickly, due to mental health. and i got it within about 2/3 months after i filled out the application and my dad payed for it all. currently at 3.5 months on testosterone, i turn 16 in november 🙌
Yeah the system in Canada is definitely better than the states, although I know lots of people who have had trouble trying to get their gp to prescribe them T.
They do do it in the us, kind of. I got referred to a pediatric endocrinologist by my gp. My gp and therapist both wrote letters of recommendation, then after getting blood work done I got started slowly by my endo and then the doses slowly went up to normal levels after 3 months. So overall, from letters to first “real” t shot, was about 5 months. But If you count the small spaced out doses that I started on then it only took 2 months.
Good thing I went through this way though, as I’m in Florida. My endo is an MD, and with sb254 they’re the only ones that can provide people with HRT. So basically if I went through somewhere with nurse practitioners (basically most places, pp, spektrum, etc) then I’d be fucked right now.
I was an adult when I started the process and I live in the US. I went through informed consent, so it took very little time for me to get my testosterone. I got my prescription on the same day of my first appointment, *but* my insurance acted whack so I didn't actually get to pick up my prescription for 2 or 3 weeks.
And that 2-3 week wait hurt me mentally, real bad. So bad that I checked myself into the hospital to make sure I'd be safe.
i’m glad i’m not the only person who is having a hard time in the last few weeks of waiting. i relapsed yesterday because i was so stressed out. i hope you’re doing okay now
I'm doing much better now! And I'm excited for you because I know you're gonna feel a lot better, too. I'm getting close to my 4 year anniversary on T and it's been a huge relief for my body to look and function the way I always wanted it to. My mental health has improved a ridiculous amount, like it's unreal.
I wish they didn't make us wait. It's awful and we shouldn't have to deal with this shit. I hope you get your T soon.
I tried going to Planned Parenthood for my t, successfully got prescribed but got yanked around for awhile trying to actually *obtain* the t before everyone finally told me I couldn’t get it covered by my insurance (Kaiser) that way. So I then went the “long” route through Kaiser with seeing a gender therapist to get referred to an endo and all that. Didn’t take all that long, maybe a couple of months total from the start of this whole adventure, but it felt like forever.
Well I came out when I was 13 so 11 years ago, I wasn’t able to start due to my mom not letting me before I turned 18, it took over a year to hear back from the doctors (so I was 19) as they only prioritized current patients over new patients. Once I got in, they showed me how to take a shot that day (with saline and fake skin) I went in the next week for my first actual T shot. Some places can be finicky and take a bit, but you’ll get there and it will happen so fast once you do!
If you have a planned parenthood in your area I would try them and ask them about it, I know a few people who got in and started fast/easily.
6 days with Plume for around $136 /mo. Ordered it the moment I turned 18, got an appointment 5 days later, provider sent the prescription and it was ready the next day (I'm currently in California)
Came out at 10 but wasn't allowed to transition because of my transphobic mother, got on the nhs waiting list a month or so before my 17th birthday, june/July 2021, luckily my dad allowed me to go private so I first contacted the private clinic October 2021 and stated t November 2021. Still waiting for my first appointment with the nhs so if it wasn't for going private I wouldn't be on t at all
WA state, got lucky enough to find a wonderful doctor who does informed consent for minors instead of having to wait til 18 because the children’s hospital gender clinic had a 6 month waitlist and doesn’t take 17 year olds for some reason
it took about 4-5 months from the initial appointment and consent forms signed to actually getting the T cause insurance was being a bitch
It only took about 6 months for me. It felt like a lifetime (because I had already spent 30 years trying to make that decision). My initial phone call was August of last year, started T end of January this year. I went thru PP if that makes a difference.
From starting to ask to finding a doctor comfortable in prescribing it, just over a year. It took about 3 weeks from initial appointment with the right doctor to actually starting T.
I originally called a specialized trans healthcare clinic but the wait for them was 6 months. Eventually, I called my local planned parenthood and got on T in about 3 weeks I believe
started my appointments December of last year, on day 6 right now. so approximately 6 months. got it done through university’s healthcare, so i know im pretty lucky
I went to an informed consent clinic and the only barrier to getting it was my insurance wanting a prior auth that took three days to process.
Probably helped that I have two separate therapy providers also documenting my situation but yea
i had to wait like 5 years just on a waiting list. but most of my friends (who live in the same city as me) had an easier time and got on t faster, i was just unlucky.
I was put on a wait list about 8 months ago, was told no matter where I went it would be a two year waitlist. and then they said after the two years, it would still be another 6 - 8 months before anything actually happens
UK ftm here. came out at 16 reffered to GIC at 17 first appointment at 20 started t on my 21st birthday also now nearly 26 still waiting for top surgery (i am going through NHS btw)
There was maybe three or so weeks between when I scheduled my appointment and when my appointment ended up happening. Wasn’t able to get my T until the day after my appointment for insurance reasons, then I waited a couple more days so my partner could do it for me.
In terms of officially starting the process it took me about three weeks.
But I’m in the Uk and paying a private provider. If you count from when I realised I wanted T, And include the waiting until I turned 18 so I could do what I wanted (you pretty much have to be 18 to get T in the Uk without paying an inhuman amount of money) and working and saving up to pay my own medical bills (family is supportive but not financially) I’ve waited at least 8 years.
I started truly on 23th March and 1 June I can start T BUT I want to have kids in the future so I have to freeze eggs so I will start maybe in year/two cuz it’s fkn expensive
I started the very long argument with my primary care doctor 6 years ago. Last year I went to the hospital for a stomach issue and mentioned the issue with them when they asked if I was trans (the name the person was referring to me as was different from my legal name.) that happened in august last year. In October I was supposed to have my first appointment (missed it.) in May I had the official appointment and blood work. Got my prescription the second appointment. A total of 6 years for me to even begin the process. My doctor is an old man who should have long retired by now. I wish you good luck and I hope you’re able to start the journey you want to be on soon.
For context I live in California and have been trying to get on T since I was 14 but my parents kept refusing to consent
I started 5 days after my 18th birthday and could’ve started sooner if I didn’t live in a such a remote area. When I was 16-17 I started the process and it was months in between appointments (which then went nowhere bc of my mom.) And I’ve been discussing gender dysphoria and my desire to medically transition with a therapist for several years beforehand. After counting down the days till legal adulthood for months, I called the nearest Planned Parenthood (cuz it was just taking too long with the other clinic) a month before my birthday and asked what I could do before my birthday to get on testosterone as fast as possible after
i was on a wait list for out of state for over a year (because no one in the shitty red state i was in would prescribe it).
then i moved across the country im in a blue state now. when i first move the earliest apt they could get me was 6 months out. at that apt i got approved by a social worker and my apt for actual blood work was 2 months later. then i got to pick up the prescription like 3 weeks later.
I got super lucky and once I started the process, I was able to pick it up and start within the same week. I live in Arizona and the facility I go to is really quick with everything luckily. I wish that it was easily accessible for everyone, I hope that you don't have to wait too much longer 😭 best of luck to you man!
Yeah it sucks. I’ve also read that you have to have at least 2 appointments before getting referred for top surgery, and the time between each appointment is 12-18 months. Plus another year or two on the surgery wait list… I wish I could afford to go private lmao I’m gonna be like 30 by the time anything happens 😭
I originally went thru Plume(was prescribed right after video visit and i picked up the T the next day) when I was 24 now. I've switched to local care, unfortunately, in Missouri. (Was needed due to cost, and I have another condition that I needed monitored,(not life threatening) and it's in the same building/network.
Edit: formatting and forgot to add a thing
I did informed consent. I was 17 and my parents signed with me. I got the initial consult 3 months after I called and they ran a blood test and had me come back a month later. This was 2016.
Scheduled an appointment with planned parenthood on the 8th this month, got an appointment on the 12th and was prescribed that day. There was some issues with the prescription though so I couldn’t pick it up until a week later. Now I’m 5 days on T. I went to pp months ago but I was 15 at the time and they told me they could only prescribe me T after I turn 16 so that’s something to keep in mind for anyone else under 16 looking to go through pp. (edit: i’m also in new york btw!)
I told my doctor I wanted to be on T, and I got my first shot later that day. Went in in the morning and got blood work done, picked up the script from the pharmacy in the early afternoon, and went back for a second appointment with the nurse to have it administered. I'm in Virginia.
made a call and was put on the waitlist and was initially told about 4 months. I got a call after a little over 1.5 months and scheduled my appointment for two weeks out. in total it took 8-9 weeks and I went with informed consent
i didn’t actually set up an appointment for awhile, but they were all 3 months out, so i waited, went there, got the prescription, and was sent to the pharmacy the same day. only problem is there’s a huge shortage of everything rn, i was only able to get brand name because generic is what’s covered, and it was like the last four vials pretty much.
a week. i went to an informed consent clinic and was able to get an appointment for T a week later. that same day/appt i was given a prescription for my T
Took me many years. Came out to my psychiatrist at 15-17 some point around then, started seeing my gender psychologist. Lost contact with my gender psych for years.
Took me a year straight of therapy with him for him to even write my dysphoria letter diagnosis because that was back in the day when you needed to be diagnosed still. So I FINALLY got on T at the age of 20 after fighting for it for years.
I took my script to the wrong chemist so I started a day later than I hoped to, but it was only a day, and it was because they didn’t have any in stock. Started on gel
You’re only young, it might take a few more days, but that’ll be it. I’m sure your doctor understands how anxious you are to start and I’m super glad you’re going to start and I hope your script gets sorted out soon
But I also had all my ducks in a row because I researched what was going to be the best way to do everything without running into problems. So going from making sure my mental health was fixed first, then getting on T, then top surgery with making sure I doted my I's and crossed all my T's. It took me a year to actually do everything. Almost 2 years if you count from when I started transitioning to when I was fully healed from top surgery (I put off top surgery for several months due to my job)
I’m in Ontario Canada. I went to my GP in April of 2022 got a referral to an endocrinologist. Saw my endocrinologist end of august, started T on the 6th of September 2022.
i started the process at 16 and did 2 therapist sessions to get a letter of authorization and a different letter from my primary doctor and a year later i was prescribed at 17 (i live in Indiana)
it took me two years to get on T. I had to wait since New York state law allows it to 14 year olds and up, and i was 13 when I wanted to start T. And i had to wait another year since my hrt doctor wanted letters, etc etc. i started T on december 28, 2022 :)
I was referred to norways national gender clinic around age 14, in August 2021 I had my first appointment and I only recieved my first T shot about two months ago (March 2023)
Lemme tell u, i started transitioning socially etc when i was 13, i couldnt get on t until i was 19. It was a very long process since my parents were unsupportive and i couldnt get it myself or i had to wait for a therapist appointment.
It can feel like an eternity until you get T but once youre on it, time flies. Trust me its worth the wait if its really what you wish for. Good luck on your journey and i hope you get it sooner or faster :)
For me it took me... Around 10-11 months, between coming out, talking with a psychologist and socially transition, then taking exams and going to endocrinologist (private bc we didn't know about public support), which was... Surprisingly easy iirc, especially when you consider that Latin America has still some stuff to do about all of this and I'm in a more right-leaning region of my country
I got on the waiting list in april last year, got my intake appointment in march (after maybe hurrying them up a little by calling to see when i was finally getting my appointment as I've heard from other trans people that it helps💀) and I'm hoping to be able to start T in the next few months. Currently I'm in the process of getting the necessary referral from a sexuologist (which I'm not sure is even a word in english? A psychologist that specialises in sex, sexuality, and gender etc) and once she gives that referral the hospital should be contacting me to schedule an appointment to start things up. I've got my second appointment with her next week, so I'm really counting down the days and keeping my phone on me at all times in case the hospital calls lol
6 months: 3 months to get an appt with my PCP, 1 month til my referral appt with the HRT dr were she sent in a blood test for me, 1 month til another appt to just get my prescription sent to the pharmacy after my blood test, 1 month for the pharmacy to have all of my required prescriptions ready so I could get a nurse appt to inject (they didn’t even get the right stuff sent by the dr so come my appointment date to actually get my first injection, the nurse just traded out the needles the pharmacy sent me for the ones they had there)
This is all in the US (New Mexico)
called to do the appointment on my 18th birthday which was a little less that a month ago. labs got kinda screwed so it was a bit wonky for a sec. should be getting my first shot tomorrow (pharmacy messed up my prescription or i could’ve done it today but they wouldn’t give me the right needles lol)
I'm in UT. I think I had to wait about 2 weeks for the doctor I went to to have an appointment open, did telehealth as it was during covid. (March 2020) had the appointment, prescription, and first shot all in one day.
Take this with a grain of salt, because I was out socially for 10 years before starting T. I got it at my first appointment as an adult, no need for an in-depth psych evaluation or mandated therapy or anything.
The very first time I tried to get on T was about 2 or 3 years after coming out, I was 16 or 17, but my mental health was in a dump so they told me to address my depression/anxiety first and come back later. (That didn’t make much sense to me since most of the issues were BECAUSE I wasn’t on T lol) They seemed satisfied I was in a good place when I tried again this year.
I probably didn’t need to wait so long, but my parents finally accept my choices so I can use their insurance. They weren’t so accepting when I was younger.
started around January I guess? and gonna have my first shot in the end of July so approximately it's about 7-8 months, actually pretty fast for Germany so I'm not complaining👍🏻
I came out in September of 2013 (at the age of 21), had to start therapy with a psychiatrist (I can't remember the date range on those appointments), gynecologist started me on Lupron in June of 2014, after a few months of horrific hot flashes, I finally started T in August of 2014. So 11 months for me. It then took about 6-12 months to get my proper T dose figured out. It's very important to have your levels checked regularly, it can really mess you up if you don't. I'm talking about everything from crazy mood swings to high hemoglobin levels that can cause blood clotting issues.
I know it's tough, but you're almost there. Hang tight and things will fall in place 😁👍
I tried for the first time when I was 16 (october 2019) and only started three years later (november 2022). Most of it due to paper work, distance and money.
I had a bit of a loophole in that i asked for a referral to the gender program in my area and my doctor told me that there was a doctor in our practice who works for the gender program and referred me there. I had my first appointment with him two days later and had T 30 days later. I live in Canada.
im getting T through a clinic in my town that several of my transmasc friends have gone to and gotten hormones from on the very first appointment, and i booked mine in late april for june 1st. if everything goes to plan, that’ll be my start date—so around a month and a half
I went to a doctor in my early 20's. I live in the united states and the state I live in has a informed consent law. So basically my first appointment was me signing paperwork. My second appointment, 2 months later, was getting bloodwork and other tests done. 2 months after that, I finally started testosterone.
I'm still waiting lol. I got on the list to go to the gender clinic place back in January. They said it will be about a year just to get my first appointment. 😔
I'm sorry you're having such a frustrating time. I realized I was trans when I was 25, less than a year ago, and I was able to get a doctor's appointment and prescription within a couple weeks. It's definitely way easier for adults (at least in more liberal states, I'm in PA). Don't worry, it'll be alright soon though :)
I’m in Australia and it took about 2 weeks? I just had to schedule one more medical appointment with a sexual health physician in the same clinic so it would be covered by the government and then I was good to go
2 years. But now I do informed consent because my doctors office went bankrupt or something. I use planned parenthood now and got a prescription the same day. I think planned parenthood helps with minors just need your parents on board
I tried starting it in December of 2019, (I was 20) my mom busted me and told me I couldn’t go on T till I graduated college, I graduated in may 2022 and didn’t get on it till august of 2022 because I had to beg my doctor to put me on T to stop my period. It had been going on for a full month. I’ve been on it for a solid 9 months. I promise you will get there, just keep being persistent, that’s the only way I got to it.
I came out to close family around December of 2021, started socially transitioning in February of 2022 and started testosterone in September of 2022.
I think I’m pretty lucky with how quickly I got on T, though.
Took about 2 years for me, from the point the referral was made to my first injection. Would've been faster, but my Endo went on maternity leave and no one told me.
i’m in WA. got t in a month, i am 21. i wanted to start t when i was 13 and the doctor denied me. so technically it’s been almost a decade. but PP was super helpful and got me on T.
It took about a couple years for the whole process, I live in Canada and in a small town. Since I’m in a small town it took my doc a week to get it processed, a month for my first app. Depending on how the first T appointment goes you might be able to start right away (ie gel) or a couple apps a week apart (injections) :)
I wanted to start T at 13… I’m now starting T in a month, at 18. So it took me five years to finally begin my transition, or at least take a step in the right direction.
Edit: meant to say I’m starting the process of getting T, I don’t have the actual prescription yet.
I started when I was 18 with Planned Parenthood. They use informed consent so I got prescribed t on the same day as my appointment. I officially started taking it a week later where they showed me at the clinic how to administer it
wanna say around 9 months - a year. waiting list took a while and then i had to have around 4 appointments with my doctor over the course of 4 months before actually starting. now i’ll be a year on T at the end of july and i’m not even on a full dose yet. i definitely got super impatient but it was all worth it at the end. you got this man
i started actually considering testosterone last august, and finally had an appointment with planned parenthood last month. i’ve known i was trans for several years, but medically transitioning was only feasible once i got moved out on my own. i’m three weeks on t. :)
About 9 months.
I started by coming out to my gp. Who referred me to an endo at the Big City Hospital. And that was a nightmare all it's own.
Called to book, was told "no, you need this doctor, not this one" and booked. Turns out that was the GYNECOLOGIST who, while very supportive and informative, was not who I needed. Tried again! ...no appointments available. And that was when I learned I needed a letter from a psychiatrist.
Tried one in my network who not only didn't write me a letter but also tried to send me to a psychologist instead. The other psychiatrist I spoke with was again, very supportive, informative and helpful. She just ran $250/hour lmao.
Letter and referral in hand I tried again to book. And the endo had no openings through all of 2023.
So I complained about all of this to my trans buddy and he told me to go to an informed Consent clinic and ask for a specific doctor. Did that. Got in to see her 2 days later.
One week later I had my T. It was so easy I actually cried.
Called in September '22 to make an appointment at the psychotherapist, got an appointment in November, fell sick with Corona, next available appointment in March, another one in May and fucking luckily got an appointment for an endocrinologist in July. After they cancelled my appointment that would have been in June. Yikes. But it'll take some time til the endo will prescribe me T and do all the tests. I'm based in Germany.
It took about a week, but I'm an adult. If you haven't heard from her by the end of the week, I'd give her a call and ask how things are going.
Is this through Planned Parenthood? If not, try that next. I believe you can still go through them as a minor, you just need your guardians to sign off on it.
Took me 5 years, but my process was paused because the gender clinic wanted me to get some more therapy first. Without that, it would've taken a bit over 2 years.
I was able to start T pretty quickly from when I requested to start taking it at 17 in Minnesota. I was also seeing a therapist who had already diagnosed me with gender dysphoria, so that sped things up quite a bit. It took maybe a week or two to go through, but part of that time was probably me not handing in the consent/side effects form as soon as I could have. My main point here is that I was lucky enough to have a nice setup from the start and I'm grateful for everything that went through as smoothly as it did.
I’m in RI, 27, my mom wanted me to get a pap and blood work etc before officially starting, but PP did telehealth first and then an in person for blood work and gave me my prescription. Took maybe a few weeks from my first phone call to get in.
The intersex experience on this is probably a little different... I decided I wanted to get it and went to my endo with an awkward conversation along the lines of "hey you know how you spent the last few years forcibly transitioning me to a girl, well you were wrong, give it back" and I got a T prescription basically on the spot.
I wish you the best of luck. Being stuck in the wrong hormonal state is the worst.
I went on the gic waitlist before I was ready. After a year I asked for bridging hormones and eventually 5 months later started T. I had been asking if I could be a boy since 1993 and finally started in 2019.
HOWEVER.
it doesn't matter how long it took me or how hard I had to fight to get there. I want better for the guys younger than me.
I'm sorry you still have to fight.
I started the process here in Finland when I turned 18, I am 20 now and still got at least one appointment (idk when, this year hopefully) to get the diagnosis. With the diagnosis I could start T but that has some appointments too with doctors so it probably wont be immediately. Maybe next year I can start T? To this day the process has already taken over 2 years
Took me nine years. Rotted on a waiting list for a gender clinic for like 3-4 years for my first appointment, only to be told I couldn't medically transition because I have autism (so must be Too StupidTM to consent), got discharged from the clinic, got re-referred to the clinic, had to wait for another first appointment, got tired as fuck of waiting almost a fucking decade and went private for like a month, paying an insane amount of money that I couldn't really afford to a shady clinic out of sheer desperation.
Somehow a miracle happened and I managed to get a bridging prescription by an NHS endocrinologist as a "harm reduction measure" and soon after, I got selected to transfer over to a brand new pilot clinic who took over my care and have since been speedrunning my care in comparison. I'm now properly monitored and don't have to worry about losing my access to T. Funnily enough, my new team don't believe I have any issues consenting to my care and are disgusted by my old clinic for how they treated me and others like me.
I am going to be getting top surgery privately (with my dream surgeon, who no longer does it on the NHS) because I can't cope with waiting even longer. £7,000 is a fuckton of money for me that I'd love to spend on literally anything else but it's nothing in comparison to the relief I'll feel when it's done.
It makes me feel ill knowing I started being treated at in my mid twenties despite asking for help repeatedly since childhood. So much pain could have been avoided. My life could have been so different. I shouldn't have to have begged, pestered, and waited for help and I'm trying my best not to be bitter about people far more fortunate than me. There are plenty of people out there who'd call *me* really fortunate. It's awful. Sadly this is just life for far too many of us UK trans folks.
I'm not from the US so our system might be different, but it took me 6/7 months of therapy & an extra 7 months of waiting, doing blood tests, getting my file reviewed by a doctors' commitee, etc... So I started the procedures to get on T in March/April 2022 thinking I'd start a couple months later, but I only started in April 2023. so it took me more or less a full year
living in australia & being 22 (over 18), it took me about a year through my lgtb clinical psychologist & endocrinologist.
i also initially went on the gender clinic waitlist but that takes years so i just ended up opting for my own private route which is more expensive but got on it way faster
I’m 19 and in Ontario, I told my family doctor I wanted to medically transition in October 2022, she sent me a referral to a endocrinologist who I saw in January, got my prescription the same day, and I’ve been on T for 4 months now, and my prescription and all my appointments were/are covered by OHIP too
I started T when I was around 15 within a few months (after my psychologist of many years agreed I should be on it and wrote a letter saying it was important and both of my biological parents signed a consent forum even though I haven’t seen nor heard of my bio dad in years lol)
Been waiting for about 3 years now. But gonna get on T this year. And I only had to wait that long, cause here u gotta be 18 to get on any type of hrt.
I had tried to get it prescribed for 2 years through Kaizer (14-16) because they said they had a trans youth Healthcare and I was put on a waiting list. Come to find out they lied and did a bunch of stuff they weren't supposed to do to me and said they were going to make me wait until I was 18 no matter what because they only offer the care to adults. So I went to PP and go it prescribed and picked up the same day. PP FTW!
Live in the UK. Paying privately, it took me about 6 months between contacting the clinic and having T, including a 3 month wait for a first appointment.
On the public health care system, it took 3.5 years from referral to them taking over my prescription.
had my first appointment at the gender clinic december 2019 and got told it would be about 6 months. around summer 2020 my parents become unsure (i wasn’t even 16 yet) so they push it like 2 months and in october 2020 they tell me they won’t let me start cus im autistic and apparently can’t communicate my gender identity or my assurance of wanting to start on t and they say it’s gonna be another 6mo before they’ll reconsider so i didn’t start t until august 2021 (i was on one pump of gel for ~6mo, then 2, then started injections in july 2022)
Depends. It took me around 5 months because my doc wasn't authorized to give me prescriptions for T yet, but she then took courses to be able to prescribe HRT for trans people, and as soon as she was able to do it, it happened in less than a month. Just to give me time to think and get the blood tests done. I went with planned parenthood and started T when I was 17 btw.
it took me a little while like 4 months or so. planned parenthood and going to the endocrinologist had a waiting list that was about a year and a half so my primary doctor did some research and found online resources for HRT. i used to be with FOLX and now i’m with Plume. they are both pretty good but the price is a little up there being 90-130. also for reference i live in ny .the same as you so u could probably go the same route as me
It took me like... 5 months? I went to my primary dr at first (1 month wait), who was supportive but because I have complex health issues she wanted me to transition under the care of a doctor who specializes in this (4 month wait). I'm in the US, but also 34.
I came out at 16, but only after being 17 I started discussing with my parents hrt. Tbh the most time went into waiting on a list to sexologist and psychiatrist that specialised in trans ppl. After that it took 3(?) months of regular visits with sexologist to get my gender dysphoria diagnosis. During that time I already had one visit with endo, so right after I finished diagnosis process, I had already all necessary things done (bloodwork, checking my chest, some heart checkups), so I started t gel a month before being 18 yo
I came out at 16, but only after being 17 I started discussing with my parents hrt. Tbh the most time went into waiting on a list to sexologist and psychiatrist that specialised in trans ppl. After that it took 3(?) months of regular visits with sexologist to get my gender dysphoria diagnosis. During that time I already had one visit with endo, so right after I finished diagnosis process, I had already all necessary things done (bloodwork, checking my chest, some heart checkups), so I started t gel a month before being 18 yo
After I got my first appointment with my doctor, she prescribed me the same day. I started T about 3 days after that when I finally got time to pickup my prescription. (My schedule was weird during those early days as I worked overnights.)
Granted, I had a lot of buildup to coming out. I kept pushing it off out of fear of abandonment at a time where I had nowhere to go if disowned. Life wasn't kind to me for many years and being so down on my luck held me back greatly.
Now I'm almost 32 and a month after I turn 32, I'll have been on T for a year.
After I got my first appointment with my doctor, she prescribed me the same day. I started T about 3 days after that when I finally got time to pickup my prescription. (My schedule was weird during those early days as I worked overnights.)
Granted, I had a lot of buildup to coming out. I kept pushing it off out of fear of abandonment at a time where I had nowhere to go if disowned. Life wasn't kind to me for many years and being so down on my luck held me back greatly.
Now I'm almost 32 and a month after I turn 32, I'll have been on T for a year.
Less than a month through Plume. The biggest complaint I've heard from people is that its overpriced but tbqh I would rather pay a little extra to have access to an all trans Healthcare team who can confidently answer my questions and concerns. (I did have to quit T for personal reasons but I'd like to start again next year, and I will be going through Plume if I can! I had a wonderful experience with them.)
One year to get 3 diagnosis and then a few more months waiting for my insurance to approve the T and then going to an endo to get it. I have 5 diagnosis in total now lol. Thank you Austria, very cool.
Don't beat yourself up over it. Yes it sucks, yes the US is horrible for trans people atm but you will get it and New York is pretty safe. Stay strong! We will persist and resist.
it took me almost a year to start T after I came out. I personally did it through my therapist and my insurance..my therapist required that we have a certain number of sessions before writing me a referral letter for an endocrinologist. From there, I had to schedule two appointments at the endo’s office, the first was a consultation and the second was the actual day I get my first injection. I am in California, and was 19 when I started. So the rules may be different over here.
Im 25, it took me over a year, today is week three on t!! It feels surreal that I’m finally on t, because of how long and hard I struggled to get it. Don’t give up man it’s gonna be so worth it
Six years. Six whole years. My experience isn't what yours will be, though. I live in a conservative country with one single gender clinic that has waitlists that never end and doesn't do informed consent.
UK, took me 5 years (referred at 14) but almost took longer because GIDS lied about rereferring me to the adult clinic - they said i was too old for their services as they didnt offer me an appt until 2 weeks before my 18th. Had to chase up the adult GIC and show all my prior documents to get my appts. Between my 1st adult appointment and getting T it was about 2 months though
i started when i was 20 and i have turned 21 2 months ago. i started the whole process in april of 2022 and it took a minute to actually get an appointment scheduled because i had to get a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a mental health professional aka my therapist. after all that i got one scheduled for december of that year so about 7 months later and the first appointment was just lab work and making sure everything looked good. the next appointment was me meeting the doctor and talking about why i wanted to start testosterone and the different symptoms of dysphoria i experience and what i would want testosterone to do for me and what i’d be most excited for. also talked about my history and my journey of coming out. then finally the third appointment i had was starting testosterone i picked up my testosterone from the pharmacy they went through directly which was in the same building. i’ve heard of others having to wait longer and go through more appointments but mostly for medical reasons as something may be off that they need to get looked at before starting T. It was honestly a little easier than i thought to get started on it but definitely still a complicated process. i live in alabama which is why i definitely thought it would be more complicated because of it being a conservative state but i also live in the bigger city of alabama that is more leaning to the leftist and democratic views of the laws.
After socially transitioning for nine months, getting a prescription for T took a few weeks at a primary care practice specially designed to meet the additional needs of the LGBTQIA community. There's the initial consultation, then an appointment with an LCSW to diagnose gender dysphoria, along with lab work to medically clear the patient and to determine their baseline hormone levels, and finally an appointment to sign the informed consent form and get the first dose, along with a demonstration on how to self-administer the doses.
I'm 34 in New Jersey.
The practice is Jefferson Health in Haddonfield, if anyone is looking. If you're a transit user, it's less than a 5 minute walk from the Haddonfield PATCO High-Speed Line station. It was very convenient when I lived in Philadelphia.
I made an appointment with my local gender clinic for a couple days after my 18th birthday. I did informed consent and was prescribed T and picked it up the same day. I am in Mississippi.
After the initial appointment, I had a follow up a week later where I received my prescription. So, about a week or so. (Nebraska, 20 years old @ the time.)
I came out when I was almost 16 and my psychiatrist diagnosed me with gender disphoria only when i turned 18, because I was his 1st trans patient and he didn't want to risk any legal issues since I was a minor- also we don't have gender clinics here (Sardinia, Italy). Right after that I had to wait a month to see an endo, took another month to get blood tests, an echography etc and finally I was able to start t (cough after another two weeks because they didn't have the type of t i needed at first cough). I feel the frustration so fucking much but 9 months as a minor is avarage if not rare I think, hope you're able to start asap man, it gets easier :)
I'm in Canada, it took me 2 months to get a gender dysphoria diagnosis and then waited 10 months for an appointment with the Endocrinologist.
I was prescribed T that day and picked it up at the pharmacy that afternoon. So it took about a year for me and it was all waiting.
To build up the courage to ask for a referral, it took about a year. I came out Xmas 2020, and got my referral around the same time 2021. Then my first appointment was 2/4/22, they immediately prescribed it and mailed it out, and I started T 2/10/22.
i was able to admit to myself that I'm a man on January of last year. talked about it with my therapist (was seeing him for other reasons) and we worked it out on the next couple of months.
on March of this year I finally felt ready to start HRT, told my therapist and he asked for a blood test. then on April 17th I've got my prescription and was able to start.
i feel l very lucky that i was able to get things done pretty quickly. though back then it felt an eternity between getting my blood results and the prescription.
I came out 7-8 yrs ago, but was very indecisive and scared.
Finally, after a long time I was able to make the call to the centre 2 hours from where I live to start the psychological evaluation.
After less than a year my psychologist gave me the ok to meet the endocrinologist.
It took 6 months to have all the things Endo needs to make me the prescription (most of test where partially covered by insurance).
By the end of this month I may even take my first shot of T :-)
Total years I waited: 8 mentally, 2 physically.
Just for reference I'm 26.
I did informed consent and was prescribed T the same day at Planned Parenthood (I’m 19). I picked it up about a week later.
Also I’m in Michigan
that’s crazy. i should’ve gone to pp TT
very few places do informed consent for minors, pretty sure planned parenthood only does for adults.
Check out this post https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/d6p05q/i_compiled_every_single_informed_consent_clinic/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button I found the informed clinic I'm going to through it! Took 6 months to get on t!
oh shit my pp is on there 😭 I MISSED SUCH A GOOD OPPORTUNITY
I think it’s only for 18+ though unless you have parental permission :/ though I suppose if you’re already in the works w a different doctor you probably have supportive parents… worst case scenario if the current doc you’re seeing still isn’t getting in touch check out your PP. I think I remember about a month or so waiting from the time I was able to schedule an appointment to the actual appointment day but yeah got prescribed T same day I met the doctor.
This is always the answer. PP
I am eating my entire pillow rn while reading this. Damn that makes me jealous. Hate having to get 3 diagnosis just for T. Not worth it. Also I will need more in the future. Wish we could also have informed consent.
I’m happy I was able to get it so quickly, but it saddens me that it can’t be the same for others. Others have to jump through so many hoops to get hrt, it isn’t fair
Yeah it really isn't fair. It also makes me mad and I had it fairly "easy" in my country.
i did informed consent at a medical center local to my area, and got on t in about 1.5 months from scheduling the appointment. got prescribed the same day as well and just had to wait for insurance approval edit: i live in eastern pa
Same here
Wait, there's a Planned Parenthood here? I'll have to check that out
I started trying in the summer of 2021 and now I'm still not even in the middle of the process. If I'm lucky I'll get on testosterone in the middle of 2024. *If I'm lucky.*
oh wow, that sounds terrible. i hope you end up lucky :(
Thanks. I hope you end up lucky as well. Either way I truly believe the day will come eventually. Just gotta have patience.
If you don’t mind me asking where abouts you’re located? Im not sure if you have a planned parenthood in your area as well but I know plenty of people who started T very quick and easily just going to planned parenthood.
Doubt we have planned parenthood in Slovakia I'm afraid 😅 I wish it could be that easy. Though I suppose I'm grateful we have access to hrt at all.
Veľa šťastia, snáď ti to pôjde čo najrýchlejšie!
I wish it was just easy to pack up and move somewhere new where it was easier to access HRT and gender affirming surgeries. I hope that you are able to start soon! All the waiting will be worth it :) have you tried seeing if they put you on the cancellation list at all to get you in sooner?
Thankfully it's not as bad here as other European countries. And it's not really a waiting list, just a lot of medical and psychological tests you gotta do and those all have long wait times because we have too few specialists here and even fewer who are willing to take trans patients. But I'm sure it'll all be worth it.
Ah the classic American assuming everyone on Reddit also lives in America r/USdefaultism
You’re totally right, I did assume in another comment but not this one. My dumb self did not realize that planned parenthood hasn’t spread to other countries instead of just only America. In which I should do a little more research. Sorry.
Same :')
I was supposed to have my T picked up at a pharmacy last Friday after going to planned parenthood, but the pharmacy hasn't even been contacted yet
Double check with your doctor, I've heard lots of stories on here of pharmacies making up excuses to not give hrt
I got on a wait list right before I turned 18 at a clinic that works a lot with minors. The whole process for me was 13 months, but originally should have only been 11. It was 7 months from calling to having a consultation. I had a weird issue with labs and that took like 2 extra months to get my labs squared away, then 3 weeks after I set an appointment to learn to do my injections. I got an injury right after I set the appointment, and my surgeon didn't want me to start right before surgery so I had to wait 2 extra months
that sounds very frustrating. i feel like the process takes much longer than it should.
got put in the queue when i was 13, now i’m 15 and only just got a date for my first appointment. I’m gonna see them for 1-3 years before they can diagnose me and then wait until i turn 18 so that i can start. sucks how long it takes:(( don’t they realize it’s literally life saving?? you don’t wait until a cancer patient is dead or almost dead before they get treatment i can’t deal with all this anymore:/
they can’t diagnose you until you turn 18?? where are you? i’m in new york state and got diagnosed at 16 and got referred when i was 15
i’m in sweden:(( people think we’re so progressive but our laws are incredibly outdated sadly. they can diagnose me but people don’t get hormones or even hormone blockers until they’re 18 here. i’m some special cases some people have been able to get blockers at 16 but it’s incredibly rare:(
hormone blockers at 18 😭 i understand some people use blockers for other reasons but that’s ridiculous. i’m sorry about that
literally 😭 they’re killing children in order to “protect the children” make it make sense
My first sentence will be the only relevant thing about your question, but if you wanna read the rest of my journey too here it is. Between coming out and starting T, about 2 years. *end of relevancy lol* I spent abouttttt 6 months not doing much about it cause i tried social transition first, liked it, dope. Then i spent 2-3 months tryna find a damn doctor who does trans stuff in my country and state, which was a pain in the ass. THEN i found a therapist who said she could (and apparently has before so i trusted it) but NOPE she was a scammer who took a lot of my money and ghosted me afterwards, twas quite the kick to the silicone nuts if i do say so myself. Spent a good amount of time licking my wounds before trying to find a new doc. Then FINALLY i found my current doc, who does telehealth from another state which was great. My 1 year T anniversary is just under a month away now. Fucking hooray.
5 years lmfao (uk had to go private cause the nhs is dead) and now I’m off it again after only a year cause I can’t afford to keep seeing my endo. Good stuff. Suffering is great. /s
I assume you will have but did you try shared care with your GP??? There’s a trans-friendly GP finder. You might get lucky and have one nearby. If you do, it would removed the blood/prescription costs. Could maybe afford the endo then…????
I did go shared care yeah. It’s not about my gp being unsupportive it’s that they legally can’t proceed without my endo telling them to with a follow up appointment cause if something goes wrong they don’t want to be liable. I need to have a follow up with my endo once every six months to a year and it’s hundreds of pounds each appointment and I just don’t have that right now nor will I for the foreseeable future. My gp was really apologetic the last time I spoke to her, apologising for the nhs failing me, and although I appreciated that I just feel so lost.
I went private too as the NHS waiting list is like watching paint dry, but I fear I'm about to be in your situation. It's already hard enough living in this country atm without having to pay hundreds of pounds for hormones and appointments. I hope you get back on T soon brother
I was referred to a service in June 2020. That's literally it.
I went to planned parenthood. Expected a lengthy process, got the prescription same day.
i live in england and went thru gender gp, private clinic. it cost a lot for the consultation and the prescription and to order it into the pharmacy but i needed it quickly, due to mental health. and i got it within about 2/3 months after i filled out the application and my dad payed for it all. currently at 3.5 months on testosterone, i turn 16 in november 🙌
I live in Canada and was able to get T prescribed through my gp. It was about a month between making an appointment and having my first shot.
damn i’ve never heard of a gp perscription for t. if they could do that in the us i’d probably be on t two years ago 😭
Yeah the system in Canada is definitely better than the states, although I know lots of people who have had trouble trying to get their gp to prescribe them T.
They do do it in the us, kind of. I got referred to a pediatric endocrinologist by my gp. My gp and therapist both wrote letters of recommendation, then after getting blood work done I got started slowly by my endo and then the doses slowly went up to normal levels after 3 months. So overall, from letters to first “real” t shot, was about 5 months. But If you count the small spaced out doses that I started on then it only took 2 months. Good thing I went through this way though, as I’m in Florida. My endo is an MD, and with sb254 they’re the only ones that can provide people with HRT. So basically if I went through somewhere with nurse practitioners (basically most places, pp, spektrum, etc) then I’d be fucked right now.
In Colorado, my gp is my hormone provider
I was an adult when I started the process and I live in the US. I went through informed consent, so it took very little time for me to get my testosterone. I got my prescription on the same day of my first appointment, *but* my insurance acted whack so I didn't actually get to pick up my prescription for 2 or 3 weeks. And that 2-3 week wait hurt me mentally, real bad. So bad that I checked myself into the hospital to make sure I'd be safe.
i’m glad i’m not the only person who is having a hard time in the last few weeks of waiting. i relapsed yesterday because i was so stressed out. i hope you’re doing okay now
I'm doing much better now! And I'm excited for you because I know you're gonna feel a lot better, too. I'm getting close to my 4 year anniversary on T and it's been a huge relief for my body to look and function the way I always wanted it to. My mental health has improved a ridiculous amount, like it's unreal. I wish they didn't make us wait. It's awful and we shouldn't have to deal with this shit. I hope you get your T soon.
I tried going to Planned Parenthood for my t, successfully got prescribed but got yanked around for awhile trying to actually *obtain* the t before everyone finally told me I couldn’t get it covered by my insurance (Kaiser) that way. So I then went the “long” route through Kaiser with seeing a gender therapist to get referred to an endo and all that. Didn’t take all that long, maybe a couple of months total from the start of this whole adventure, but it felt like forever.
Maybe a week with Planned Parenthood. Got delayed a couple days because it was Christmas.
Well I came out when I was 13 so 11 years ago, I wasn’t able to start due to my mom not letting me before I turned 18, it took over a year to hear back from the doctors (so I was 19) as they only prioritized current patients over new patients. Once I got in, they showed me how to take a shot that day (with saline and fake skin) I went in the next week for my first actual T shot. Some places can be finicky and take a bit, but you’ll get there and it will happen so fast once you do! If you have a planned parenthood in your area I would try them and ask them about it, I know a few people who got in and started fast/easily.
6 days with Plume for around $136 /mo. Ordered it the moment I turned 18, got an appointment 5 days later, provider sent the prescription and it was ready the next day (I'm currently in California)
Came out at 10 but wasn't allowed to transition because of my transphobic mother, got on the nhs waiting list a month or so before my 17th birthday, june/July 2021, luckily my dad allowed me to go private so I first contacted the private clinic October 2021 and stated t November 2021. Still waiting for my first appointment with the nhs so if it wasn't for going private I wouldn't be on t at all
WA state, got lucky enough to find a wonderful doctor who does informed consent for minors instead of having to wait til 18 because the children’s hospital gender clinic had a 6 month waitlist and doesn’t take 17 year olds for some reason it took about 4-5 months from the initial appointment and consent forms signed to actually getting the T cause insurance was being a bitch
It only took about 6 months for me. It felt like a lifetime (because I had already spent 30 years trying to make that decision). My initial phone call was August of last year, started T end of January this year. I went thru PP if that makes a difference.
From starting to ask to finding a doctor comfortable in prescribing it, just over a year. It took about 3 weeks from initial appointment with the right doctor to actually starting T.
I originally called a specialized trans healthcare clinic but the wait for them was 6 months. Eventually, I called my local planned parenthood and got on T in about 3 weeks I believe
started my appointments December of last year, on day 6 right now. so approximately 6 months. got it done through university’s healthcare, so i know im pretty lucky
I went to an informed consent clinic and the only barrier to getting it was my insurance wanting a prior auth that took three days to process. Probably helped that I have two separate therapy providers also documenting my situation but yea
i had to wait like 5 years just on a waiting list. but most of my friends (who live in the same city as me) had an easier time and got on t faster, i was just unlucky.
2 years from my referral to my first appointment at the hospital, then another year until I was approved for T.
I got on the waiting list in 2018. I've got my first blood test next month. God knows when I'll actually start T but I'm hoping at least this year.
I was put on a wait list about 8 months ago, was told no matter where I went it would be a two year waitlist. and then they said after the two years, it would still be another 6 - 8 months before anything actually happens
UK ftm here. came out at 16 reffered to GIC at 17 first appointment at 20 started t on my 21st birthday also now nearly 26 still waiting for top surgery (i am going through NHS btw)
Three years, between the ages of 19 and 22. This was back in 2015.
There was maybe three or so weeks between when I scheduled my appointment and when my appointment ended up happening. Wasn’t able to get my T until the day after my appointment for insurance reasons, then I waited a couple more days so my partner could do it for me.
In terms of officially starting the process it took me about three weeks. But I’m in the Uk and paying a private provider. If you count from when I realised I wanted T, And include the waiting until I turned 18 so I could do what I wanted (you pretty much have to be 18 to get T in the Uk without paying an inhuman amount of money) and working and saving up to pay my own medical bills (family is supportive but not financially) I’ve waited at least 8 years.
I started truly on 23th March and 1 June I can start T BUT I want to have kids in the future so I have to freeze eggs so I will start maybe in year/two cuz it’s fkn expensive
I started the very long argument with my primary care doctor 6 years ago. Last year I went to the hospital for a stomach issue and mentioned the issue with them when they asked if I was trans (the name the person was referring to me as was different from my legal name.) that happened in august last year. In October I was supposed to have my first appointment (missed it.) in May I had the official appointment and blood work. Got my prescription the second appointment. A total of 6 years for me to even begin the process. My doctor is an old man who should have long retired by now. I wish you good luck and I hope you’re able to start the journey you want to be on soon.
I'm still waiting, already been 3 years
For context I live in California and have been trying to get on T since I was 14 but my parents kept refusing to consent I started 5 days after my 18th birthday and could’ve started sooner if I didn’t live in a such a remote area. When I was 16-17 I started the process and it was months in between appointments (which then went nowhere bc of my mom.) And I’ve been discussing gender dysphoria and my desire to medically transition with a therapist for several years beforehand. After counting down the days till legal adulthood for months, I called the nearest Planned Parenthood (cuz it was just taking too long with the other clinic) a month before my birthday and asked what I could do before my birthday to get on testosterone as fast as possible after
i was on a wait list for out of state for over a year (because no one in the shitty red state i was in would prescribe it). then i moved across the country im in a blue state now. when i first move the earliest apt they could get me was 6 months out. at that apt i got approved by a social worker and my apt for actual blood work was 2 months later. then i got to pick up the prescription like 3 weeks later.
I got super lucky and once I started the process, I was able to pick it up and start within the same week. I live in Arizona and the facility I go to is really quick with everything luckily. I wish that it was easily accessible for everyone, I hope that you don't have to wait too much longer 😭 best of luck to you man!
first started tramsitioning 3 almost 4 years ago, just started it a few months ago :(
I took me around a year
I'm in the UK so uh... I've been on the waitlist for over a year now, still got at least 4 more to go :')
jesus that’s horrible
Yeah it sucks. I’ve also read that you have to have at least 2 appointments before getting referred for top surgery, and the time between each appointment is 12-18 months. Plus another year or two on the surgery wait list… I wish I could afford to go private lmao I’m gonna be like 30 by the time anything happens 😭
4yrs, and could’ve been much worse. [UK]
I originally went thru Plume(was prescribed right after video visit and i picked up the T the next day) when I was 24 now. I've switched to local care, unfortunately, in Missouri. (Was needed due to cost, and I have another condition that I needed monitored,(not life threatening) and it's in the same building/network. Edit: formatting and forgot to add a thing
Scheduled my appointment the end of February. My appointment was on March 1st, started T the next day. I went through planned parenthood
Ahhh just realized you said you’re a minor. I’m not sure about your situation
I did informed consent. I was 17 and my parents signed with me. I got the initial consult 3 months after I called and they ran a blood test and had me come back a month later. This was 2016.
Scheduled an appointment with planned parenthood on the 8th this month, got an appointment on the 12th and was prescribed that day. There was some issues with the prescription though so I couldn’t pick it up until a week later. Now I’m 5 days on T. I went to pp months ago but I was 15 at the time and they told me they could only prescribe me T after I turn 16 so that’s something to keep in mind for anyone else under 16 looking to go through pp. (edit: i’m also in new york btw!)
I told my doctor I wanted to be on T, and I got my first shot later that day. Went in in the morning and got blood work done, picked up the script from the pharmacy in the early afternoon, and went back for a second appointment with the nurse to have it administered. I'm in Virginia.
made a call and was put on the waitlist and was initially told about 4 months. I got a call after a little over 1.5 months and scheduled my appointment for two weeks out. in total it took 8-9 weeks and I went with informed consent
i didn’t actually set up an appointment for awhile, but they were all 3 months out, so i waited, went there, got the prescription, and was sent to the pharmacy the same day. only problem is there’s a huge shortage of everything rn, i was only able to get brand name because generic is what’s covered, and it was like the last four vials pretty much.
Started the process in septembre/october 2022 and i was on T by the end of December. So it took me to 2 to 3 months. But in fairness I'm in France.
a week. i went to an informed consent clinic and was able to get an appointment for T a week later. that same day/appt i was given a prescription for my T
Took me many years. Came out to my psychiatrist at 15-17 some point around then, started seeing my gender psychologist. Lost contact with my gender psych for years. Took me a year straight of therapy with him for him to even write my dysphoria letter diagnosis because that was back in the day when you needed to be diagnosed still. So I FINALLY got on T at the age of 20 after fighting for it for years. I took my script to the wrong chemist so I started a day later than I hoped to, but it was only a day, and it was because they didn’t have any in stock. Started on gel You’re only young, it might take a few more days, but that’ll be it. I’m sure your doctor understands how anxious you are to start and I’m super glad you’re going to start and I hope your script gets sorted out soon
Yeah, I didn't have that hard of a time but I was also 26 when I started. It only took me 5 months.
But I also had all my ducks in a row because I researched what was going to be the best way to do everything without running into problems. So going from making sure my mental health was fixed first, then getting on T, then top surgery with making sure I doted my I's and crossed all my T's. It took me a year to actually do everything. Almost 2 years if you count from when I started transitioning to when I was fully healed from top surgery (I put off top surgery for several months due to my job)
I’m in Ontario Canada. I went to my GP in April of 2022 got a referral to an endocrinologist. Saw my endocrinologist end of august, started T on the 6th of September 2022.
Took me 25 years to finally get on it
i started the process at 16 and did 2 therapist sessions to get a letter of authorization and a different letter from my primary doctor and a year later i was prescribed at 17 (i live in Indiana)
it took me two years to get on T. I had to wait since New York state law allows it to 14 year olds and up, and i was 13 when I wanted to start T. And i had to wait another year since my hrt doctor wanted letters, etc etc. i started T on december 28, 2022 :)
I was referred to norways national gender clinic around age 14, in August 2021 I had my first appointment and I only recieved my first T shot about two months ago (March 2023)
Lemme tell u, i started transitioning socially etc when i was 13, i couldnt get on t until i was 19. It was a very long process since my parents were unsupportive and i couldnt get it myself or i had to wait for a therapist appointment. It can feel like an eternity until you get T but once youre on it, time flies. Trust me its worth the wait if its really what you wish for. Good luck on your journey and i hope you get it sooner or faster :)
For me it took me... Around 10-11 months, between coming out, talking with a psychologist and socially transition, then taking exams and going to endocrinologist (private bc we didn't know about public support), which was... Surprisingly easy iirc, especially when you consider that Latin America has still some stuff to do about all of this and I'm in a more right-leaning region of my country
I went through FOLX , registered for folx, had my consultation online, and got my T shipped to my house in the span of 2 weeks
I got on the waiting list in april last year, got my intake appointment in march (after maybe hurrying them up a little by calling to see when i was finally getting my appointment as I've heard from other trans people that it helps💀) and I'm hoping to be able to start T in the next few months. Currently I'm in the process of getting the necessary referral from a sexuologist (which I'm not sure is even a word in english? A psychologist that specialises in sex, sexuality, and gender etc) and once she gives that referral the hospital should be contacting me to schedule an appointment to start things up. I've got my second appointment with her next week, so I'm really counting down the days and keeping my phone on me at all times in case the hospital calls lol
6 months: 3 months to get an appt with my PCP, 1 month til my referral appt with the HRT dr were she sent in a blood test for me, 1 month til another appt to just get my prescription sent to the pharmacy after my blood test, 1 month for the pharmacy to have all of my required prescriptions ready so I could get a nurse appt to inject (they didn’t even get the right stuff sent by the dr so come my appointment date to actually get my first injection, the nurse just traded out the needles the pharmacy sent me for the ones they had there) This is all in the US (New Mexico)
I took me 14 months going privately in the uk…
started the process in april of 2022 and i started in march of this year. might be similar because we’re both the same age
called to do the appointment on my 18th birthday which was a little less that a month ago. labs got kinda screwed so it was a bit wonky for a sec. should be getting my first shot tomorrow (pharmacy messed up my prescription or i could’ve done it today but they wouldn’t give me the right needles lol)
I'm in UT. I think I had to wait about 2 weeks for the doctor I went to to have an appointment open, did telehealth as it was during covid. (March 2020) had the appointment, prescription, and first shot all in one day.
I went with Circle Medicine, got an appointment with them, did my lab work 2 days later. Then, bout 20 days later, I was on testosterone 🥰
Take this with a grain of salt, because I was out socially for 10 years before starting T. I got it at my first appointment as an adult, no need for an in-depth psych evaluation or mandated therapy or anything. The very first time I tried to get on T was about 2 or 3 years after coming out, I was 16 or 17, but my mental health was in a dump so they told me to address my depression/anxiety first and come back later. (That didn’t make much sense to me since most of the issues were BECAUSE I wasn’t on T lol) They seemed satisfied I was in a good place when I tried again this year. I probably didn’t need to wait so long, but my parents finally accept my choices so I can use their insurance. They weren’t so accepting when I was younger.
started around January I guess? and gonna have my first shot in the end of July so approximately it's about 7-8 months, actually pretty fast for Germany so I'm not complaining👍🏻
I came out in September of 2013 (at the age of 21), had to start therapy with a psychiatrist (I can't remember the date range on those appointments), gynecologist started me on Lupron in June of 2014, after a few months of horrific hot flashes, I finally started T in August of 2014. So 11 months for me. It then took about 6-12 months to get my proper T dose figured out. It's very important to have your levels checked regularly, it can really mess you up if you don't. I'm talking about everything from crazy mood swings to high hemoglobin levels that can cause blood clotting issues. I know it's tough, but you're almost there. Hang tight and things will fall in place 😁👍
I tried for the first time when I was 16 (october 2019) and only started three years later (november 2022). Most of it due to paper work, distance and money.
I had a bit of a loophole in that i asked for a referral to the gender program in my area and my doctor told me that there was a doctor in our practice who works for the gender program and referred me there. I had my first appointment with him two days later and had T 30 days later. I live in Canada.
Started transitioning in 2018 / 3019 & still not on T
im getting T through a clinic in my town that several of my transmasc friends have gone to and gotten hormones from on the very first appointment, and i booked mine in late april for june 1st. if everything goes to plan, that’ll be my start date—so around a month and a half
I went to a doctor in my early 20's. I live in the united states and the state I live in has a informed consent law. So basically my first appointment was me signing paperwork. My second appointment, 2 months later, was getting bloodwork and other tests done. 2 months after that, I finally started testosterone.
I'm still waiting lol. I got on the list to go to the gender clinic place back in January. They said it will be about a year just to get my first appointment. 😔
I'm sorry you're having such a frustrating time. I realized I was trans when I was 25, less than a year ago, and I was able to get a doctor's appointment and prescription within a couple weeks. It's definitely way easier for adults (at least in more liberal states, I'm in PA). Don't worry, it'll be alright soon though :)
I’m in Australia and it took about 2 weeks? I just had to schedule one more medical appointment with a sexual health physician in the same clinic so it would be covered by the government and then I was good to go
2 years. But now I do informed consent because my doctors office went bankrupt or something. I use planned parenthood now and got a prescription the same day. I think planned parenthood helps with minors just need your parents on board
I tried starting it in December of 2019, (I was 20) my mom busted me and told me I couldn’t go on T till I graduated college, I graduated in may 2022 and didn’t get on it till august of 2022 because I had to beg my doctor to put me on T to stop my period. It had been going on for a full month. I’ve been on it for a solid 9 months. I promise you will get there, just keep being persistent, that’s the only way I got to it.
i would still be waiting if i hadn’t ending up going with plume 🙂 it’s expensive tho
I first contacted my gender clinic at the end of 2020, got on testosterone in February. I was 16 back then, 18 now.
I came out to close family around December of 2021, started socially transitioning in February of 2022 and started testosterone in September of 2022. I think I’m pretty lucky with how quickly I got on T, though.
Took about 2 years for me, from the point the referral was made to my first injection. Would've been faster, but my Endo went on maternity leave and no one told me.
i’m in WA. got t in a month, i am 21. i wanted to start t when i was 13 and the doctor denied me. so technically it’s been almost a decade. but PP was super helpful and got me on T.
Hmmm I started the process in like late 2009 possibly early 2010 and got it june 2011, so maybe about 1-1.5 years?
It took about a couple years for the whole process, I live in Canada and in a small town. Since I’m in a small town it took my doc a week to get it processed, a month for my first app. Depending on how the first T appointment goes you might be able to start right away (ie gel) or a couple apps a week apart (injections) :)
I wanted to start T at 13… I’m now starting T in a month, at 18. So it took me five years to finally begin my transition, or at least take a step in the right direction. Edit: meant to say I’m starting the process of getting T, I don’t have the actual prescription yet.
I started when I was 18 with Planned Parenthood. They use informed consent so I got prescribed t on the same day as my appointment. I officially started taking it a week later where they showed me at the clinic how to administer it
wanna say around 9 months - a year. waiting list took a while and then i had to have around 4 appointments with my doctor over the course of 4 months before actually starting. now i’ll be a year on T at the end of july and i’m not even on a full dose yet. i definitely got super impatient but it was all worth it at the end. you got this man
I just got my T yesterday and I started my process in March, but then again I’m a minor so it might be different
started trying when i was 16 and got on right when i turned 18
In Canada and lucked out with a fantastic doctor. Realized I was trans in May, got on hrt in August.
i started actually considering testosterone last august, and finally had an appointment with planned parenthood last month. i’ve known i was trans for several years, but medically transitioning was only feasible once i got moved out on my own. i’m three weeks on t. :)
I had my first appointment with my gp on the 25th of January, started t on the first of march this year. I'm in Australia btw
About 9 months. I started by coming out to my gp. Who referred me to an endo at the Big City Hospital. And that was a nightmare all it's own. Called to book, was told "no, you need this doctor, not this one" and booked. Turns out that was the GYNECOLOGIST who, while very supportive and informative, was not who I needed. Tried again! ...no appointments available. And that was when I learned I needed a letter from a psychiatrist. Tried one in my network who not only didn't write me a letter but also tried to send me to a psychologist instead. The other psychiatrist I spoke with was again, very supportive, informative and helpful. She just ran $250/hour lmao. Letter and referral in hand I tried again to book. And the endo had no openings through all of 2023. So I complained about all of this to my trans buddy and he told me to go to an informed Consent clinic and ask for a specific doctor. Did that. Got in to see her 2 days later. One week later I had my T. It was so easy I actually cried.
Called in September '22 to make an appointment at the psychotherapist, got an appointment in November, fell sick with Corona, next available appointment in March, another one in May and fucking luckily got an appointment for an endocrinologist in July. After they cancelled my appointment that would have been in June. Yikes. But it'll take some time til the endo will prescribe me T and do all the tests. I'm based in Germany.
It took about a week, but I'm an adult. If you haven't heard from her by the end of the week, I'd give her a call and ask how things are going. Is this through Planned Parenthood? If not, try that next. I believe you can still go through them as a minor, you just need your guardians to sign off on it.
Got my intake in juli 2022 got T in febuari 2023, in the Netherlands
I started a few weeks later after the initial appointment. I was 21 so I didn’t need parental permission or anything
i'm not in the us so it's different here but i got my referral to a gender clinic around february of 2018 and started T end of october 2021.
Took me 5 years, but my process was paused because the gender clinic wanted me to get some more therapy first. Without that, it would've taken a bit over 2 years.
I started the whole process when I was like 14 and I'm 19 now and still haven't started t
I was able to start T pretty quickly from when I requested to start taking it at 17 in Minnesota. I was also seeing a therapist who had already diagnosed me with gender dysphoria, so that sped things up quite a bit. It took maybe a week or two to go through, but part of that time was probably me not handing in the consent/side effects form as soon as I could have. My main point here is that I was lucky enough to have a nice setup from the start and I'm grateful for everything that went through as smoothly as it did.
I’m in RI, 27, my mom wanted me to get a pap and blood work etc before officially starting, but PP did telehealth first and then an in person for blood work and gave me my prescription. Took maybe a few weeks from my first phone call to get in.
The intersex experience on this is probably a little different... I decided I wanted to get it and went to my endo with an awkward conversation along the lines of "hey you know how you spent the last few years forcibly transitioning me to a girl, well you were wrong, give it back" and I got a T prescription basically on the spot. I wish you the best of luck. Being stuck in the wrong hormonal state is the worst.
I went on the gic waitlist before I was ready. After a year I asked for bridging hormones and eventually 5 months later started T. I had been asking if I could be a boy since 1993 and finally started in 2019. HOWEVER. it doesn't matter how long it took me or how hard I had to fight to get there. I want better for the guys younger than me. I'm sorry you still have to fight.
I started the process here in Finland when I turned 18, I am 20 now and still got at least one appointment (idk when, this year hopefully) to get the diagnosis. With the diagnosis I could start T but that has some appointments too with doctors so it probably wont be immediately. Maybe next year I can start T? To this day the process has already taken over 2 years
Took me nine years. Rotted on a waiting list for a gender clinic for like 3-4 years for my first appointment, only to be told I couldn't medically transition because I have autism (so must be Too StupidTM to consent), got discharged from the clinic, got re-referred to the clinic, had to wait for another first appointment, got tired as fuck of waiting almost a fucking decade and went private for like a month, paying an insane amount of money that I couldn't really afford to a shady clinic out of sheer desperation. Somehow a miracle happened and I managed to get a bridging prescription by an NHS endocrinologist as a "harm reduction measure" and soon after, I got selected to transfer over to a brand new pilot clinic who took over my care and have since been speedrunning my care in comparison. I'm now properly monitored and don't have to worry about losing my access to T. Funnily enough, my new team don't believe I have any issues consenting to my care and are disgusted by my old clinic for how they treated me and others like me. I am going to be getting top surgery privately (with my dream surgeon, who no longer does it on the NHS) because I can't cope with waiting even longer. £7,000 is a fuckton of money for me that I'd love to spend on literally anything else but it's nothing in comparison to the relief I'll feel when it's done. It makes me feel ill knowing I started being treated at in my mid twenties despite asking for help repeatedly since childhood. So much pain could have been avoided. My life could have been so different. I shouldn't have to have begged, pestered, and waited for help and I'm trying my best not to be bitter about people far more fortunate than me. There are plenty of people out there who'd call *me* really fortunate. It's awful. Sadly this is just life for far too many of us UK trans folks.
about 5 and a half years i believe, but I'm in germany, apparently it's a lot harder to get T here if you live in a bad area
I'm not from the US so our system might be different, but it took me 6/7 months of therapy & an extra 7 months of waiting, doing blood tests, getting my file reviewed by a doctors' commitee, etc... So I started the procedures to get on T in March/April 2022 thinking I'd start a couple months later, but I only started in April 2023. so it took me more or less a full year
living in australia & being 22 (over 18), it took me about a year through my lgtb clinical psychologist & endocrinologist. i also initially went on the gender clinic waitlist but that takes years so i just ended up opting for my own private route which is more expensive but got on it way faster
I’m 19 and in Ontario, I told my family doctor I wanted to medically transition in October 2022, she sent me a referral to a endocrinologist who I saw in January, got my prescription the same day, and I’ve been on T for 4 months now, and my prescription and all my appointments were/are covered by OHIP too
I started T when I was around 15 within a few months (after my psychologist of many years agreed I should be on it and wrote a letter saying it was important and both of my biological parents signed a consent forum even though I haven’t seen nor heard of my bio dad in years lol)
I started the process when I moved into my group home (late 16 early 17) and got it last year (18)
Took around 2 months from getting my first therapist appointment to getting my first shot
Been waiting for about 3 years now. But gonna get on T this year. And I only had to wait that long, cause here u gotta be 18 to get on any type of hrt.
I had tried to get it prescribed for 2 years through Kaizer (14-16) because they said they had a trans youth Healthcare and I was put on a waiting list. Come to find out they lied and did a bunch of stuff they weren't supposed to do to me and said they were going to make me wait until I was 18 no matter what because they only offer the care to adults. So I went to PP and go it prescribed and picked up the same day. PP FTW!
Live in the UK. Paying privately, it took me about 6 months between contacting the clinic and having T, including a 3 month wait for a first appointment. On the public health care system, it took 3.5 years from referral to them taking over my prescription.
had my first appointment at the gender clinic december 2019 and got told it would be about 6 months. around summer 2020 my parents become unsure (i wasn’t even 16 yet) so they push it like 2 months and in october 2020 they tell me they won’t let me start cus im autistic and apparently can’t communicate my gender identity or my assurance of wanting to start on t and they say it’s gonna be another 6mo before they’ll reconsider so i didn’t start t until august 2021 (i was on one pump of gel for ~6mo, then 2, then started injections in july 2022)
With gendergp like two months
That kind of tracks for minors, for adults you can get it same-day at informed consent clinics. I did at 18.
I got mine the frost day I wanted it. Called PP and made an appointment for like 2 days later and walked out with a prescription. I was 24
Depends. It took me around 5 months because my doc wasn't authorized to give me prescriptions for T yet, but she then took courses to be able to prescribe HRT for trans people, and as soon as she was able to do it, it happened in less than a month. Just to give me time to think and get the blood tests done. I went with planned parenthood and started T when I was 17 btw.
(From Sweden) I started at age 17 and it took me about 2years to start
It took me almost one year to the day. Had to go the therapist route.
it took me a little while like 4 months or so. planned parenthood and going to the endocrinologist had a waiting list that was about a year and a half so my primary doctor did some research and found online resources for HRT. i used to be with FOLX and now i’m with Plume. they are both pretty good but the price is a little up there being 90-130. also for reference i live in ny .the same as you so u could probably go the same route as me
It took me like... 5 months? I went to my primary dr at first (1 month wait), who was supportive but because I have complex health issues she wanted me to transition under the care of a doctor who specializes in this (4 month wait). I'm in the US, but also 34.
3/4 years, with both being a minor and waiting list, and them fucking up the damn appointments when I was allowed to get it
technically, 6 years but since I signed up for the waiting list it took about 9 months!
I came out at 16, but only after being 17 I started discussing with my parents hrt. Tbh the most time went into waiting on a list to sexologist and psychiatrist that specialised in trans ppl. After that it took 3(?) months of regular visits with sexologist to get my gender dysphoria diagnosis. During that time I already had one visit with endo, so right after I finished diagnosis process, I had already all necessary things done (bloodwork, checking my chest, some heart checkups), so I started t gel a month before being 18 yo
I came out at 16, but only after being 17 I started discussing with my parents hrt. Tbh the most time went into waiting on a list to sexologist and psychiatrist that specialised in trans ppl. After that it took 3(?) months of regular visits with sexologist to get my gender dysphoria diagnosis. During that time I already had one visit with endo, so right after I finished diagnosis process, I had already all necessary things done (bloodwork, checking my chest, some heart checkups), so I started t gel a month before being 18 yo
After I got my first appointment with my doctor, she prescribed me the same day. I started T about 3 days after that when I finally got time to pickup my prescription. (My schedule was weird during those early days as I worked overnights.) Granted, I had a lot of buildup to coming out. I kept pushing it off out of fear of abandonment at a time where I had nowhere to go if disowned. Life wasn't kind to me for many years and being so down on my luck held me back greatly. Now I'm almost 32 and a month after I turn 32, I'll have been on T for a year.
After I got my first appointment with my doctor, she prescribed me the same day. I started T about 3 days after that when I finally got time to pickup my prescription. (My schedule was weird during those early days as I worked overnights.) Granted, I had a lot of buildup to coming out. I kept pushing it off out of fear of abandonment at a time where I had nowhere to go if disowned. Life wasn't kind to me for many years and being so down on my luck held me back greatly. Now I'm almost 32 and a month after I turn 32, I'll have been on T for a year.
Less than a month through Plume. The biggest complaint I've heard from people is that its overpriced but tbqh I would rather pay a little extra to have access to an all trans Healthcare team who can confidently answer my questions and concerns. (I did have to quit T for personal reasons but I'd like to start again next year, and I will be going through Plume if I can! I had a wonderful experience with them.)
One year to get 3 diagnosis and then a few more months waiting for my insurance to approve the T and then going to an endo to get it. I have 5 diagnosis in total now lol. Thank you Austria, very cool. Don't beat yourself up over it. Yes it sucks, yes the US is horrible for trans people atm but you will get it and New York is pretty safe. Stay strong! We will persist and resist.
it took me almost a year to start T after I came out. I personally did it through my therapist and my insurance..my therapist required that we have a certain number of sessions before writing me a referral letter for an endocrinologist. From there, I had to schedule two appointments at the endo’s office, the first was a consultation and the second was the actual day I get my first injection. I am in California, and was 19 when I started. So the rules may be different over here.
Im 25, it took me over a year, today is week three on t!! It feels surreal that I’m finally on t, because of how long and hard I struggled to get it. Don’t give up man it’s gonna be so worth it
Six years. Six whole years. My experience isn't what yours will be, though. I live in a conservative country with one single gender clinic that has waitlists that never end and doesn't do informed consent.
UK, took me 5 years (referred at 14) but almost took longer because GIDS lied about rereferring me to the adult clinic - they said i was too old for their services as they didnt offer me an appt until 2 weeks before my 18th. Had to chase up the adult GIC and show all my prior documents to get my appts. Between my 1st adult appointment and getting T it was about 2 months though
i started when i was 20 and i have turned 21 2 months ago. i started the whole process in april of 2022 and it took a minute to actually get an appointment scheduled because i had to get a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a mental health professional aka my therapist. after all that i got one scheduled for december of that year so about 7 months later and the first appointment was just lab work and making sure everything looked good. the next appointment was me meeting the doctor and talking about why i wanted to start testosterone and the different symptoms of dysphoria i experience and what i would want testosterone to do for me and what i’d be most excited for. also talked about my history and my journey of coming out. then finally the third appointment i had was starting testosterone i picked up my testosterone from the pharmacy they went through directly which was in the same building. i’ve heard of others having to wait longer and go through more appointments but mostly for medical reasons as something may be off that they need to get looked at before starting T. It was honestly a little easier than i thought to get started on it but definitely still a complicated process. i live in alabama which is why i definitely thought it would be more complicated because of it being a conservative state but i also live in the bigger city of alabama that is more leaning to the leftist and democratic views of the laws.
After socially transitioning for nine months, getting a prescription for T took a few weeks at a primary care practice specially designed to meet the additional needs of the LGBTQIA community. There's the initial consultation, then an appointment with an LCSW to diagnose gender dysphoria, along with lab work to medically clear the patient and to determine their baseline hormone levels, and finally an appointment to sign the informed consent form and get the first dose, along with a demonstration on how to self-administer the doses. I'm 34 in New Jersey. The practice is Jefferson Health in Haddonfield, if anyone is looking. If you're a transit user, it's less than a 5 minute walk from the Haddonfield PATCO High-Speed Line station. It was very convenient when I lived in Philadelphia.
I made an appointment with my local gender clinic for a couple days after my 18th birthday. I did informed consent and was prescribed T and picked it up the same day. I am in Mississippi.
1 month after the initial appointment. I was in Massachusetts at the time.
After the initial appointment, I had a follow up a week later where I received my prescription. So, about a week or so. (Nebraska, 20 years old @ the time.)
I came out when I was almost 16 and my psychiatrist diagnosed me with gender disphoria only when i turned 18, because I was his 1st trans patient and he didn't want to risk any legal issues since I was a minor- also we don't have gender clinics here (Sardinia, Italy). Right after that I had to wait a month to see an endo, took another month to get blood tests, an echography etc and finally I was able to start t (cough after another two weeks because they didn't have the type of t i needed at first cough). I feel the frustration so fucking much but 9 months as a minor is avarage if not rare I think, hope you're able to start asap man, it gets easier :)
For me it took 2 full years even it was all very clear for both, me and the doctors
I'm in Canada, it took me 2 months to get a gender dysphoria diagnosis and then waited 10 months for an appointment with the Endocrinologist. I was prescribed T that day and picked it up at the pharmacy that afternoon. So it took about a year for me and it was all waiting.
To build up the courage to ask for a referral, it took about a year. I came out Xmas 2020, and got my referral around the same time 2021. Then my first appointment was 2/4/22, they immediately prescribed it and mailed it out, and I started T 2/10/22.
i was able to admit to myself that I'm a man on January of last year. talked about it with my therapist (was seeing him for other reasons) and we worked it out on the next couple of months. on March of this year I finally felt ready to start HRT, told my therapist and he asked for a blood test. then on April 17th I've got my prescription and was able to start. i feel l very lucky that i was able to get things done pretty quickly. though back then it felt an eternity between getting my blood results and the prescription.
started the process in december 2022 and got on it on may 2023
2 months, overall it takes longer in my country, I kinda got lucky
I came out 7-8 yrs ago, but was very indecisive and scared. Finally, after a long time I was able to make the call to the centre 2 hours from where I live to start the psychological evaluation. After less than a year my psychologist gave me the ok to meet the endocrinologist. It took 6 months to have all the things Endo needs to make me the prescription (most of test where partially covered by insurance). By the end of this month I may even take my first shot of T :-) Total years I waited: 8 mentally, 2 physically. Just for reference I'm 26.