I think People think a person just wakes up and decides to be transgender…

 

 

 

 

The newspaper headline reads, “Gender identity clinic services under strain as referral rates soar” like it is our fault we identify as transgender.
Such headlines sell papers and get airtime I guess but there is another side to headlines like that, as the funding for all NHS care becomes squeezed and people are denied care and treatment for various conditions. It is easy to target a venerable sector of the population isn’t it? (In the UK approximately 650,000 people that’s about 1% of the population, are estimated to experience some degree of gender non-conformity)

 

With some new GIC patients waiting up to four years for appointments figures show referral increases of up to several hundred per cent. The increase in referrals to gender identity services runs parallel with society hopefully becoming more accepting of transgenderism.

 

The number of Britons seeking gender identity treatment has shot up dramatically in recent years, leaving vulnerable people waiting years for a specialist appointment. They unfortunately become trapped in a situation that can be devastating to them and their families. Most GP’s will not know or understand what this situation feels like to the transgender person, just waiting having their whole life on hold. Waiting for the first of many appointments with months between each appointment and medical evaluations and assessments made before any hormone treatment is granted only then can the transgender person start their slow transition from male to female or female to male. There is the additional period of living in role that has to be completed on top of the wait to see the Consultants in the GIC’s.

 

It is not a short journey you embark upon when you identify as being in the wrong body, it is not a whim or a phase this rise in the numbers of people seeking to transition it is just human development.  As we all develop a greater understanding of who we are and how we feel, and how we should be viewed in the world by everyone else,  plus the development of western society to move away from the binary thought of male/female, to having a third gender where we accept that a person is able to change from one gender to another in order to continue to live.

 

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal increases in the number of referrals to all of the UK’s 14 gender identity clinics (GICs) in recent years, with a number of clinics experiencing increases of several hundred percent.

 

At Charing Cross in London, the oldest and largest adult clinic, the number of referrals has almost quadrupled in 10 years, from 498 in 2006-07 to 1,892 in 2015-16.

 

A clinic in Nottingham reported a 28-fold increase in referrals in eight years, from 30 in 2008 to 850 in 2015. It expected this to increase to more than 1,000 referrals during 2016.

 

The Laurels clinic in Exeter has seen a 20-fold increase in referrals in a decade, from 31 in 2005-06 to 636 in 2015-16.

 

Referrals to Sheffield’s clinic went up from eight in 1998 to 301 in 2015.

 

At a GIC in Leeds, referrals tripled from 131 in 2009-10 to 414 in 2015-16. The increase put such a strain on the service that last October it estimated that new patients would have to wait four years for their first appointment.

 

While the clinic in Daventry, Northamptonshire, which I attend, has had a five-fold increase in the past year alone, up from 88 referrals in 2014-15 to 466 in 2015-16. The latest figures released by the trust shows that most people attending their first appointment with the clinic this month had their referral accepted over 40 weeks earlier.

 

My only hope is that the government doesn’t put the squeeze on the funding that covers the gender clinics as suicide rates in the Transgender community is already way to high and cutting the funding for clinics, medication and surgery will leave people feeling all is lost and suicide an answer to their sufferings, which we know it isn’t. 

 

Leaving the EU and triggering article 50 may have an impact on the lives of transgender people living in the UK, It’s down to the UK government to raise the bar on Equality and set an example for the rest of Europe to look up to and to follow. 

 

 

 

Happy Christmas 2016

Well for the first time since I don't know when I'm happy... well I should say since coming out as transgender I have never been so happy and feeling complete as I do nowadays. I sleep better at night; I am told I smile more than before and I’m not as grumpy to be around as I was.

It’s quite complex being transgender and taking the necessary hormones to transition does affect you in many ways some good some not too good. My blood pressure went through the roof as they say so I now have to take meds to control it. This is a side-effect of the hormones I take every day, I have a dislike of needles so getting my 3 month jab of Prostrap 3 (leuprorelin acetate) takes me a day or so to get ready for it. Its something I have suffered with all my life and despite being told it will become second nature and it will be nothing to worry about I still nearly faint/ pass out every time.

Christmas is just around the corner and the shops are full of shoppers spending and spending on items to make them and others happy on the big day, they can never match the happiness I feel every morning knowing I am doing something positive and life changing.

My laser hair removal has sort of worked but on my face its less than I had hoped for with quite a few hairs continuing to be a visible reminder each morning. the process has worked better on less visible areas like my chest and back. I guess it will have to be electrolysis hair removal for the rest, I hear it's much more painful than the laser, but needs must, there is a useful web page http://www.electrolysis.co.uk/faqs/  if any body need further information on the process etc.

I have an upcoming appointment at my GIC so I will see what's next on the long list of boxes that need ticking... fast it is not, easy it is not, and cheap it is not.. but worth it yes.

I suffered my first hate crime by two "dick heads" shouting abuse at me in a shop, I avoided raising to the abuse and simply went on line the next day when I had calmed down and reported it. I was thinking of reasons why I should report it as in the past I would have stood my ground and had a fight. 
But hate crimes and incidents hurt; they can be confusing and very frightening. By reporting them when they happen to you, you may be able to prevent these incidents from happening to someone else. 
You also help the local police understand the extent of the hate crime in your local area so they can better respond to it.
Reporting makes a difference, to you your friends and your life.

A transphobic hate crime is:

“Any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.”

Head over to http://report-it.org.uk/home and check out the website. 
a quick link to the reporting page is here http://www.report-it.org.uk/your_police_force

I expected some harassment in a small working class town in the North of England. However I'm still happy and on course despite the two low life's, who had a pop at me. I have the UK law The Criminal Justice Act 2003 section 146 to help in putting these people away for their actions.

CFS update

Sorry for the lack of posting on the blog but the ravages of CFS /ME had me in their deadly grip on a 5+ week relapse, so life just stopped for me. Asleep most of the days and nights and in pain when I was awake, it did not inspire me to do much on the blog as I didn’t want to make pages full of my CFS when being transgender and transitioning is the main focus of the blog.

 

 

Gender Identity Clinic’s UK first appointment.

 



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.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gender-dysphoria/Pages/Treatment.aspx

 

Where do you get your eggs?

Now there's a question...

 

This has nothing to do with transgender but has everything to do with doing the right thing in life and being accountable for your actions.

So please read on.

 

I was busy shopping the other day, stopped at the isle with the eggs neatly stacked on the shelves, and thought about the choice on offer and importantly the price of eggs. Why are some so expensive compared to others on the shelves, a chicken egg is just a egg after all isn't it.

So I purchased our normal box of eggs and carried on shopping which is what 99% of us do every time we go shopping I guess. Only this time when I got home I started investigating the price difference and to my shock and horror discovered the multiple ways egg laying chickens are kept so let me explain further just in case like my you didn't fully understand the farming process for eggs.

Most commercial hens for laying can start to lay at 18 to 21 weeks old the commercial producers will keep the birds generally for no longer, than a little over 51 weeks, they then go for slaughter. A very short life for them, if they lived this life as perhaps we thought they did it would be a shame at least however, the majority of egg buying people don’t have any idea of the type of conditions the chickens live in.

The photo below is how caged bird spend the short life, not as you might of expected is it?

 

This is how caged battery hens have to live in some countries still…

In 1999 the EU agreed a Directive on Laying Hens (1999/74/EC) that resulted in the banning of the most inhumane of these systems, the barren battery cage. Producers were given a 12-year phase-out period, bringing the ban into effect on 1 January 2012.

In 2015, Compassion in farming’s Investigation Unit visited farms in four European countries to see what the impact of the barren battery cage ban meant for Europe’s hens, almost 60% of which continue to live in so-called ‘enriched’ cages. What they found were hidden factory farms where productivity rules the roost.  https://youtu.be/q_1omgiUWko

‘Enriched’ cages, whilst an improvement on the old barren cages, still do not permit Europe’s hens to carry out their natural behaviours’.

After all, a cage is still a cage.

 

 

 

The birds in the photographs above have no real space and nowhere to hide they are at times being pecked to near death by other chickens its hot and smelly and very noisy in these buildings.
The current law allows them to have a minimum of 9”x7” approx. for each chicken, it’s the size of an iPad not much is it, and as the farmer need to make a profit to keep in business I'm sure the bird's will get just enough to be within the legal requirements and no more.

I found out many chicken barn houses in the UK are a single level part-litter, part-slatted floor. In this system, the EU Welfare of Laying Hens Directive allows a maximum stocking density of 9 hens per square meter. (that's 9 fully grown chickens in one meter x one meter) The UK's Lion Quality Code of Practice stipulates that there is a maximum colony size of 6,000 birds that's not much space for the birds to live in 24/7. The heat inside and the smell of places like this takes your breath away when you enter the building, these poor birds are forced to live out their short life in such conditions is so wrong.

The hen house conditions for organic hens in the UK are set by the EU Organic Regulations and stipulate a maximum stocking density of 6 hens per square meter of useable area and a maximum flock size of 3,000 birds which is much better for the birds.  Hens must be provided with nest boxes.  Adequate perches, providing 18 centimeters of perch per hen, must also be provided.  Litter must be provided, accounting for one-third of the ground surface - this is used for scratching and dust bathing. So organically kept hens have a better but perhaps still not ideal living area, than the poor birds kept in the other "approved" methods of production farming eggs.

Additional requirements of the UK Lion code for Organic Egg production

The higher standards governing flocks producing British Lion organic eggs include the provision of outdoor shading, additional height and width of pop holes, open for 8 hours daily to allow access to the outside; and a maximum range area stocking density of up to 2,000 birds per hectare. 

If you need to buy eggs these are perhaps the best available form supermarkets and shops, buying organic really does make a difference to the hens operating under this system as public demand will change the way egg farms operate so please avoid the cheap eggs they are cheap for a reason and when you look into it the reason is not at all nice.

 

Upon finding all of this, I decided to rescue a few birds and have them in the garden at home, several hen charities in the UK arranges to collect the birds from the egg farms, before they are sent to slaughter.

The general public who express an interest in saving some, can collect the hens on a given day from a charity point most areas in the UK.  Sadly most of the rescue hens look almost “oven ready” when you pick them up which is very sad, but with some love and care the birds generally recover and soon begin to grow new feathers and look like a chicken should.

The egg producing farms tend to withdraw feed before they are disposed of, so rehydration and famine relief is required most of the times when you collect your ex-batt hens. Mine started to lay eggs after settling in, which was about 4 days. However, it's close to autumn time and chickens tend to go into an egg laying rest period during the winter months, unless stimulated by artificial heat and light. Ex Battery hens need this rest period and will continue to lay good quality eggs for many years but not as prolific as they once did in their prime.

I have a simple wooden coop and a wire enclosure for them to walkabout in, scratch for food as well as looking for the additional treats I leave them, (meal worms, corn and maze) as well as a large open area for them that is now protected by specialist electric chicken netting to keep foxes and the alike away from the hens. The ex-battery hens will lay for perhaps a further 4+ years and will enjoy retirement in the garden and bring the family great joy.

If you have any garden space that you think is suitable please investigate to see if you can rehome a couple of birds. Your partner and friends as well as children and grandkids all love to see the birds and really enjoy collecting the eggs when they are in lay.

The chickens will eat layers pellets or mash as well as garden worms, slug and snails also most garden weeds you have and they love to trim the lawn, aerating the grass as they scratch for the food. (The manure they produce is good fertilizer for the veg plot and borders as well!)

If you are a “prepper or survivalist” it’s good to keep chickens

If you care, where your food comes from, it’s good to keep chickens

If you want to live the “good life” it’s good to keep chickens

 

If you are happy with productive pet's it's good to keep chickens

I could list thousands of reasons to keep chickens and why it is important to me to keep chickens and rehome ex-battery hens but I will leave it to you to decide if you have had enough of the visible cruelty to animals in the food that you buy to do something about it.

(If you don't keep egg laying chickens at home and you buy eggs in the UK always avoid eggs laid in barren battery cages. To do this look for the British Lion mark on eggs and egg packs, which guarantees that the eggs are both legal and produced to slightly higher animal welfare and food safety standards.)

This is Ginger in the garden having a quick cuddle from my daughter.

Ginger is one of the ex-batt hen's we rescued in Aug 2016 

 

 

 

 

 

Having a ball...

Enjoying summer in the UK... It's always different every day, other countries can more or less guarantee their summer weather, but not hear in the UK my Dad would often say as I was flying through the door, take a coat with you... if it's raining please yourself, it still makes me smile as I tell my children the same thing and they reply in a similar way that I did haha.

We are just not set up for anything above the mid to late 20's centigrade every year we wish for a dry hot summer and as soon as it arrives we wish for cooler weather. What I wasn't ready for was the difference I found this year with my hair extensions on my head! Would you put a tight fitting woolly hat on in 30'c+ heat? Well with a full head weave you have just that going on 24/7. There is nothing you can do during the day, and certainly nothing you can do when you try to sleep. Shopping in a large store with air conditioning really helps for a short time since we don't have air con at home that's the only time during a heatwave I feel normal again, well if scouting the store for the cool breeze is normal😜.
On saying that I do love my hair extensions and I'm very happy with my hair length and style even this unseasonably hot Brittish weather, I guess I'm having a ball as Nicola.

My Hair.

Ok let’s talk about my hair.

When your transitioning from male to female you need to look as female as you can and clothes can only achieve so much, so a lot of people look into wearing a wig. I know I did but I never felt at home with it on, it would constantly move about on my head and become tangled very quickly and well look well just a “bloody mess”.  Also when you take it off you see the same old face looking back, which for me was depressing.

I tried to grow my own hair but with male pattern baldness it was going to be a hard job for sure. I walked in to a hair extension salon in my hometown and I was greeted by Sarah, the salon owner.

To be truthful I did not know what to say what to ask for, or how to feel at ease… it was totally unknown territory for me, Sarah must have judged all of this as she quickly sat me down on a sofa, made me a coffee and started to talk to me (it was wonderful) we chatted about hair colour and what would suit me and what length I wanted style and cost. I was initially shocked at the cost of having a weave, most males would never dream of spending this sort of money on hair take it from me, but with my ladies head on it was OK.

Sarah discussed the method the salon uses and yes, my bald spot would be 100% hidden phew I thought…

So I booked in after my pay day and set the day aside for the weaving and extensions to be fitted, I was unsure of what the final outcome would look like at this point but Sarah assured me I would be more than pleased with the outcome.

Wow when I had it, first done it was a massive transformation and everybody wanted to see me and touch my hair, below is a photo of me before my new hair.

The hair I chose to have for my new look is from style icon it's 100% Human Remy Hair and NOT synthetic hair, it is silky and soft to the touch and you get maximum volume from top to tip. I found my hair was the perfect product to boost my confidence.  If you are the type of person that likes to make a bit of a positive statement then Style Icon the one to go for, this hair looks very natural with its rich intensity of colour and lustre and is not the most expensive so its good value for money.

Sarah told me Style Icon by Sleek is the most popular Remy hair extensions in European Hair Market thanks to its full body volume and its highest quality that comes in a range of colours and lengths. My hair is super silky and soft to touch giving me the look that I wished for.

The salon I use is Fresh Hair Extensions in Crewe Cheshire, Threza is my stylist and works wonders, and she is fantastic and is friendly and helpful at all times. She has fitted me at short notice and has managed to fix massive knots that have had me in tears before coming to the salon, Threza works in the salon with Katie and Natalie  the salons other stylist.

If you have tried wigs and have not been satisfied with them like I was, I can recommend contacting Fresh Hair Extensions Salon in Crewe and discuss having a head weave. As my own hair grows with the treatment of hormones and T blockers as I transition, I should be in a position to have less hair extensions fitted and my natural hair coloured and styled, but for now it’s worth every single penny I spend on my hair extensions.

Have a quick look at the URL link below it's the salon's website and book in for a chat its worth every single penny to have good hair and to feel great, it's something I wish I had done much earlier in my transition.



http://www.fresh-salon.co.uk/

Some more recent hair colours I'm rocking...