Everyday I get several emails from TS women filled with questions concering their transition. The questions asked are almost always the same; (in order of frequency)
1. Where can I get hormones?
2. What hormones are the best?
3. What dosage do I take?
4. Hair removal, laser or electrolysis?
5. What do you think about silicone injections?
6. Who’s the best doctor for facial feminization surgery ?
7. How much does facial feminization surgery cost?
8. Will they “let me make payments?”
9. Have you had Sex Reassignment Surgery? (srs)
10. Which doctor would you suggest for SRS?
11. How much does it cost
The common denominator of the questions above is cost. The price of transitioning is the biggest obstacle for every transsexual woman. It effects our lives in ways most people don’t realize. Many Ts women are forced to resort to desperate and drastic measures funding their transition. Ts women often get stuck in the margins of society as a result; due to the difficulties in finding employment while transitioning many Ts women end up in the sex industry, or participating in other illegal industries, not just to pay for their transition, but to survive. Gainfully employed Ts women with medical insurance also find that funding their transition is the number 1 obstacle to affirming their lives. Due to these financial obstacles many Ts women will resort to cheap black market “procedures” (silicone injections), that put their lives at great risks, or they will seek medical treatment in third world countries where medical regulations, that reduce risks, are either very low , or non existent.
This is a link to our show concerning the dangers of freely injected silicone, with one of the nations leading cosmetic surgeons, Dr. Samir Shureih . Dr. Shureih, is also one of the leading experts on freely injected silicone.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/queenz_of_media/2009/04/07/the-dangers-of-freely-injected-silicone
Many of you are probably expecting me to answer the frequently asked questions listed, I prefer to do that privately because the appropriate advice varies on the individual. So, what’s the point of this posting? The point is to hopefully gain some empathy, NOT sympathy, from non trans people who are not aware of how the costs of transitioning effect our lives beyond just financially. Too many ts women have died trying to affirm their lives, and it’s time we collectively figure out a way to ease these financial burdens.
Some of you may think these procedures are simply elective and not essential, and you would be wrong, very wrong. What many call cosmetic, we call essential. Facial feminization surgery greatly increases the opportunities for TS women to become functioning and contributing members of society. Many Ts women reverse the order of what is essential to them, putting SRS at the top of the list of questions, and for those Ts women life will not be affirmed or worth living to them unless they get SRS. The psychological effect of not being able to complete one’s transition, no matter what “completion” means to each individual Ts woman, is devastating.
With all of that said, I want to share with you a very creative way in which one TS woman is trying to fund her life affirming surgical procedures. Her name is Lindsay Stone, she is a fully employed, and very talented graphic/web designer. She has created an online fundraiser. She isn’t asking for charity, or a hand out, she is offering her artistic and technical services in exchange for a donation. I assure you the donation amount is at a greatly reduced price for what you would pay for some of her services. This is the link to her fundraiser, and a video which further details Lindsay’s journey.
http://www.indiegogo.com/lindsay
I hope that this will inspire other women transitioning to creatively offer their talents, or services (LEGAL!) in an effort to fund their transition and complete their lives.
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Tags: Lindsay Stone
Amen sister!!