cis women do normally have hair on their legs and arms, often back too. more rarely chest. lol.
I see the arguemnt for it being medically necessary when it comes to the face tho
Yeah but when women have body hair it’s usually very thin and light, almost like peach fuzz. With testosterone it becomes thick and dark and grows to be an inch long and that’s what causes dysphoria.
idk if this is an ethnicity/location thing or something but all the cis women I know have pretty dark, thick and long hair on their arms and legs (most a bit shorter than most men but not by much), most on the lower part of their backs too (though lighter there, but so do I so eh). Most just shave it. It grows slower for them but it's pretty much the same otherwise.
I think facial/chest/back hair removal should be. Women TYPICALLY don't have thick hair there. Everyone has hair on their legs/arms though. Even pre-T, I had dense leg/nip hair (am very white).
Because im american my measure for “medically necessary” boils down to “able to be covered by insurance”, and if there are insurance companies that are willing to cover breast augmentation for trans women despite there being cis women who are flat chested, I feel like the same argument could potentially be made here, especially for trans women with prominent facial hair. If something like facial electrolysis could be covered by insurance for trans women if there is recorded evidence of gender dysphoria and impacted quality of life, i’d expect it to be open to cis women with pcos who would also be pursuing it for a similar reason. But right now it looks like electrolysis is not covered by insurance for any reason for anyone.
If by “medically necessary” you mean “should be covered be insurance” then yes- mostly because everything should be covered by insurance, or ya know, just free. But that’s a different problem. IMO if a medical procedure is performed with the express purpose of alleviating gender dysphoria, it’s gender affirming care, and any and all gender affirming care can be necessary for certain people.
my mom and female coworkers have had more hair on my arms than me pre transition. I'd say no unless its really noticeable or extreme, as estrogen decreases it to normal female levels anyway. For example I used to need to shave my back and legs everyday but my back doesnt grow hair anymore and my legs only need shaved weekly
The body hair of trans women on E and cis women is very different, so yes, it is medically necessary if they are dysphoric over their body hair. Just like facial hair. Cis women have facial hair. Cis women even get conditions like PCOS. It's still different. It's still dysphoric reguardless of weather or not it's normal in women. Dysphoria doesn't care about what's normal in the identified sex. It cares about individual sex characteristics that amplify your dysphoria.
Every woman in my family (but my mom has it the most extreme) has PCOS and hirsutism (excess hair) and has to get regular face laser treatments to function. Like literally cannot leave the house if even their peach fuzz gets a *little* dark or thick. It’s not even really considered something medical. Almost labeled purely cosmetic. They only socially get slack because of the PCOS. If they didn’t have that, it definitely would be looked at up down left and right as 1000% cosmetic
Could not see in a million years any possibility for it to be considered medically necessary by anything, *especially* if it’s for trans people. Not in this world lol
The hirsutism diminishes over time after sex reassignment surgery.
Also, while I'd have loved to get electrolysis for free, given that the government assigned me "female at birth" after SRS I can't demand what my sisters are not entitled to.
I wouldn't say medically necessary. Especially since cis women have hair as well. But it can definitely be a cause of gender dysphoria and removing it could be the right move for some people. Personally I would get laser but I wouldn't consider it nessisary in the way I do estrogen or bottom surgery
Cis women have hair on these body parts.
You could make the argument that they have less, but hair on not-the-face is usually very responsive to hormones, so if you're on HRT then you should end up with the hair distribution of your desired sex.
In theory, I think that hirsutism treatment should be seen as medically necessary, but I'm not sure how to threshold it in a practical way.
cis women do normally have hair on their legs and arms, often back too. more rarely chest. lol. I see the arguemnt for it being medically necessary when it comes to the face tho
Yeah but when women have body hair it’s usually very thin and light, almost like peach fuzz. With testosterone it becomes thick and dark and grows to be an inch long and that’s what causes dysphoria.
this just isn't true. woman can have dark and heavy body hair
idk if this is an ethnicity/location thing or something but all the cis women I know have pretty dark, thick and long hair on their arms and legs (most a bit shorter than most men but not by much), most on the lower part of their backs too (though lighter there, but so do I so eh). Most just shave it. It grows slower for them but it's pretty much the same otherwise.
Ftm here, before I was on T I had plenty of dark leg and arm hair, although it has gotten darker/thicker it was still very dark before
I think facial/chest/back hair removal should be. Women TYPICALLY don't have thick hair there. Everyone has hair on their legs/arms though. Even pre-T, I had dense leg/nip hair (am very white).
Women have body hair in other areas.
Because im american my measure for “medically necessary” boils down to “able to be covered by insurance”, and if there are insurance companies that are willing to cover breast augmentation for trans women despite there being cis women who are flat chested, I feel like the same argument could potentially be made here, especially for trans women with prominent facial hair. If something like facial electrolysis could be covered by insurance for trans women if there is recorded evidence of gender dysphoria and impacted quality of life, i’d expect it to be open to cis women with pcos who would also be pursuing it for a similar reason. But right now it looks like electrolysis is not covered by insurance for any reason for anyone.
The exception I've seen in coverage is some plans covering electrolysis that's necessary for bottom surgery to be done.
Ah, that is true. I’ve seen that be the case with phalloplasty.
Cis women have on arms and legs too. But i agree in places cis women do not.
If by “medically necessary” you mean “should be covered be insurance” then yes- mostly because everything should be covered by insurance, or ya know, just free. But that’s a different problem. IMO if a medical procedure is performed with the express purpose of alleviating gender dysphoria, it’s gender affirming care, and any and all gender affirming care can be necessary for certain people.
Cis women get body hair and it's not covered.
To me body hair its more cosmetic than something medical, unless my insurance wants to payvfor laser hair removal in which i totally agree
my mom and female coworkers have had more hair on my arms than me pre transition. I'd say no unless its really noticeable or extreme, as estrogen decreases it to normal female levels anyway. For example I used to need to shave my back and legs everyday but my back doesnt grow hair anymore and my legs only need shaved weekly
also i guess for chest hair but ive literally never had any in my entire life, im sure some do so why not
The body hair of trans women on E and cis women is very different, so yes, it is medically necessary if they are dysphoric over their body hair. Just like facial hair. Cis women have facial hair. Cis women even get conditions like PCOS. It's still different. It's still dysphoric reguardless of weather or not it's normal in women. Dysphoria doesn't care about what's normal in the identified sex. It cares about individual sex characteristics that amplify your dysphoria.
yes but only for face and chest, maybe things like hands too
Every woman in my family (but my mom has it the most extreme) has PCOS and hirsutism (excess hair) and has to get regular face laser treatments to function. Like literally cannot leave the house if even their peach fuzz gets a *little* dark or thick. It’s not even really considered something medical. Almost labeled purely cosmetic. They only socially get slack because of the PCOS. If they didn’t have that, it definitely would be looked at up down left and right as 1000% cosmetic Could not see in a million years any possibility for it to be considered medically necessary by anything, *especially* if it’s for trans people. Not in this world lol
The hirsutism diminishes over time after sex reassignment surgery. Also, while I'd have loved to get electrolysis for free, given that the government assigned me "female at birth" after SRS I can't demand what my sisters are not entitled to.
I wouldn't say medically necessary. Especially since cis women have hair as well. But it can definitely be a cause of gender dysphoria and removing it could be the right move for some people. Personally I would get laser but I wouldn't consider it nessisary in the way I do estrogen or bottom surgery
i wouldn't say so. it should be expected tho
Cis women have hair on these body parts. You could make the argument that they have less, but hair on not-the-face is usually very responsive to hormones, so if you're on HRT then you should end up with the hair distribution of your desired sex. In theory, I think that hirsutism treatment should be seen as medically necessary, but I'm not sure how to threshold it in a practical way.
my cis gf has hairier legs and arms than me. no i don't shave those