Difficulties getting a hold of a surgeon, among other questions

[Len Auphydas]

Heya, I’m Len, 22, AMAB, agender, asexual. I live in washington state. Currently stressed out of my mind from all the appointments and finances I have to deal with trying to get surgery, and I have another one in like… forty minutes, probably less by the time I post this.

Essentially I’m trying to get gender nullification surgery, though I’ve seen it under a few different names so idk what name is currently in vogue. I have had a therapist appointment to get a letter of support previously (although it has not arrived, which makes me… anxious) and my second one is in forty.

But the bigger issue is getting in touch with doctors… I’ve made dozens of calls mostly with just no response and when I have gotten through I just got bounced around and put on hold for hours without getting anywhere. The only price estimate I did manage to get for some procedure was wildly higher than every estimate I’d seen online (something like 45k instead of 13k), and since according to my parents I cant get normal insurance because it would interfere with some of my benefits I guess I have to pay everything out of pocket so that’s a big deal.

So all that out of the way I have a few questions that I hope someone can help with

– Does anyone know a specific surgeon who they know is willing to do surgery and isnt so hard to get a hold of? Specifically in washington state, I’ll look outside the state if I cant find anything but I’m doing my best with in-state first. Where in the state doesnt matter I am more than happy to drive a dozen hours out of the way.

– Is there any specific criteria I’ll need to match other than having my two support letters? Do I need to have been on hormones for a given period of time? Its been about seven or eight months, I’ve heard in a few places that a year might be required but I’ve also heard two years so I dont know.

– Can anyone share how much it costed them to have surgery? I dont know what to think since the estimates I was given on the phone and the estimates I found online were just radically different and I now have no idea how much anything costs.

– Like I said previously I have been told that I cant get normal insurance, so I’m just stuck with medicare. Having said that since no doctors seem to actually… take medicare, I assume that means that I just have to pay out of pocket. Having said that if I’m mistaken in this assessment please let me know before I waste thousands of dollars because of it.

[֍ Tiffany, Alchemist of the Orcs ֍]

I’ve also been pursuing a surgery. Upon calling surgery clinics in my area, they gave me the prices. I know that November is a big month for scholarships. Yes, there’s a number of websites/organizations that will sponsor you or at least give you a couple thousand towards your surgery. I hope that helps! I’ll be applying cause along with trying to save money, this will be necessary for me at my current income.

 

Don’t feel incomplete in the meantime. It’s a process and every day, even after the surgery, we’ll probably have moments of dysphoria. But we’re the ones who rise and be our best selves on every part of the journey. In my mind. Blessings!

[Michelle Lawson]

Len, Tiffany, my go to for finding this is our Local Places (https://transgenderheaven.com/local-places/). It doesn’t have everything listed, but there are thousands of places listed there. And web searches are a treasure trove. And if you want, let me know and I’ll try to help you find something.

As for criteria, the guidance from WPATH and your state’s laws would govern what letters you need for what.

As for cost, my BA was $7.5K when I had it done last October. My orchiectomy was similar in cost, but that was 3 years ago…..

I do have a question on the insurance. You mentioned Medicare, which is for retired folks. So I was wondering how you fit on that. But what I have seen is that a lot of doctors either require private insurance or out of pocket. Probably not all, but I have heard of enough of them to assume that it is probably more common.

I hope that helps, if just a little bit. Hugs, Michelle

[Len Auphydas]

Whoops, sorry for somewhat late response. Time always gets away with me on these things, especially since I’m spending so much time making phone calls, sending out emails, etc. I swear hospitals make it hard to contact them on purpose, ugh. I haven’t been able to find any information on prices in my area despite trying, but I am getting somewhat concerned about hair removal… I hear I need to get electrolysis specifically, but my experience with that is it is extremely slow, painful, and unnecessary since lasers work fine already. Oh well, another thing I’ve gotta get onto.

Does anyone know much about that? Or have experience with it? I really would like to find a way around it if possible, spending months just waiting on that would be… Well. Unpleasant. Wouldn’t have had this problem if I could have found any of this information years ago.

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