Your first appointment will normally be an hour and you will be doing a lot of talking. You will talk about how you feel about your gender and your body, about what you want out of transition, what you expect to happen and when - there are no wrong answers. It’s just to prep you for the process ahead. You will talk about your transition so far, so if you have officially changed your name amended your driver’s licence passport informed work or made any other efforts toward transition, then take all the evidence you can to support your case. I found it useful to write an open letter detailing from early years to present day, showing feeling and events that confirmed how I felt and whom I should be.
There is quite a bit differences between the FtM and the MtF pathways, so I cannot really explain from first hand experance at how it might go if you're FtM.
But the common areas will be you will need to be booked in for blood tests and a psych evaluation, and then sent another appointment for about 3 to 6 months’ time. I travel to my clinic, which is 135 miles each way by road. I get all my blood tests done in my own surgery practice and send the results back to the GIC, or I will perhaps take them with me on the next appointment at the GIC.
Your experience will vary depending on your needs, everybody is different and your disposition, where you are in the whole process and the outcome you wish to receive is taken into account.
The treatment you will get does make a big difference to your pathway. If you are after hormones and hormone blockers, (FtM people may be more hoops to jump through I don’t know.) However, everybody has to undergo about 2 years real life experience (RLE), and possibly additional requirements to fulfil for longer if the GIC thinks you need it.
To the best of my knowledge, the pathway is nothing like clear-cut, I have read many conflicting recollections from people and each experience differs to the next.
It used to be that clinics were reluctant to prescribe/refer people if there were not clearly identified 'gendered' outcomes to aim for; this was due to the irreversible effects from the treatment. People who go into the process without a clear picture of what their desired outcomes are, tend to bounce around the system for much longer. So from your first appointment have a clear understanding what you want from the appointments and the GIC.
Is surgery on your list? If so, have a clear understanding what is involved and how you go about it. The GIC’s like everybody to be 100% sure before and medical assistance is offered they have targets you need to meet or hoops the gatekeeper’s demand you full fill. In fact, they like us to be really really sure, before any medical/surgical intervention. The surgeons will have additional waiting lists for the operations, so if you are requiring full surgery make sure you are within the agreed BMI range the surgeon needs you to be within it is for your own benefit. (Just search prolapse womb on google) Not nice… and being above your BMI raises the risks significantly.
Another question many others and I asked is what to wear?
There is no set dress code as I can see, but they do expect you to be “fully” expressing your chosen gender as soon as possible. So being male to female I always made sure I’m dressed correctly for a female, either smart wear or casual, but I always have to feel comfortable and at ease first in whatever I have chosen to wear. Don’t worry too much was a comment I got and be yourself… I took they were referring the new female me and not the old male me! The GIC’s generally expect you to be full time living in the chosen gender within 12 months (or sooner) of your first appointment at the GIC.
Don’t self-administer medication and buy from the internet, the GIC’s really frown on such activities as the medication is unknown and unmonitored and you can damage your body which in turn will then take you longer to achieve the results you were after. Hormones do so much to your whole body so wait as the GIC’s request you do, when they are happy to prescribe hormones and blockers they will. It’s like changing a Mini to a Rolls Royce both are cars but totally different in every way so is the male and female bodies, you would expect a DIY’er to do the work nor do the GIC’s so don’t mess…
Have a look at this NHS page for official info from the NHS.
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