So some other girls in this community mentioned that they had their first appointments regarding transgender questions and such, and so did I.
To preface this, I’m from Germany, so don’t take any advice from this post please as every journey is different and is dependent on where you life, what healthcare options you have and such.
So, I went to an independent, donation based, center which deals about everything LGBTQ+. First it was pretty easy, going up to the door looking for the ringer, and then I suddenly stop in my motion. I hesitated and asked myself: “Am I really ready for this, to question everything?” My finger pressed the ringer and the Door swung open.
A super cheery woman was waiting for me and showed me the room where we would get to know each other and had to leave me alone for a bit as she had to deal with something else first (it was also 10 minutes before the actual appointment, I like being too early than being too late).
Then we talked. About all of my immediate concerns regarding transitioning, not only socially and medically, but political and work related as well.
I didn’t know that public healthcare in Germany can cover so many things (when you have a diagnosed ICD-10 F64.0 that is). From HRT, to surgery to hair removal, vocal-chord surgery…
Pretty amazing. Buuuuut, getting that diagnose is a pain in the butt, even though I’m in the third-biggest city. There are just too few specialized therapists and the queue times can be years long. But that’s not where it ends, I have to go through at least 5 sessions, 50 minutes each. And then I can get the diagnosis to get my medical journey started. Firstly, I want to go on HRT, getting those hormones and the body changes; they sound super promising. I’m not certain yet about the steps after that. But changing my legal name will, currently as a new law is in the making, take legal council, examination and some months to think it over, and then an appointment at court. WTF? The new law can’t come soon enough.
So yeah. It has been good talking to a sister regarding those questions and my concerns, as the political climate isn’t looking spiffy right now, and it only gets worse.
In any case, if you have questions or need help regarding trans* please seek out your local community as they can be really helpful and supportive!
Wait, I thought the new Selbstbestimmungsgesetz covers both gender and name? Didn’t that already go into effect? So changing both or either should simply require you to hand in a declaration (I guess you’d call it) at your local civil registry office, no?
If I’m not misunderstanding something, that is.
If you don’t mind, could you point me where to look for such a center you went to? I’m a bit lost on where to go for a first conversation that isn’t with a therapist I need to wait… lots of time for
Yeah the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz will cover both (personenstand and name) but it isn’t in effect yet. Should become online next year, but at the very least in this legislature period.
So I went to the https://www.mhc-hh.de/ but that probably won’t help you much when you aren’t in Hamburg.
They gave me a link to https://queermed-deutschland.de/ which can help you find doctors, material, general stuff regarding the topic.
but in the end I guess your searchengine provider you can trust is your best friend when finding a trans* community near you.
Well damn, that puts a damper on my mood. Somehow I was sure about it being in effect already.
This is super helpful, thank you!
As you said, finding a therapist (for anything, really) is rather… yeah. Any resource I can look at in the meantime is appreciated to a degree I’ve never appreciated anything before.
That being said, I now need to berate my hair some more for not growing fast enough.
I fell ya sister. I have genetically male baldness. My hair used to grow curly and long when 20 years ago… now i can be happy when I get like 5 centimetres after 2 years or so. :(
Anyho, glad to be of some help to you :)