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Gender Transition Roadmap
Transsexual Transition: What Is It?
Transition consists of five stages:
- Mental and emotional therapy
- Hormone replacement Therapy (HRT)
- Real-Life Test (RLT), and
- Gender or Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), including recovery
- Postoperative life and getting on with it
The stages are characterized by the main component of work that the person is engaged in for that period. Some aspects continue on beyond the following stages; for example, HRT is continued for life. In addition, counseling is usually continued to alleviate many of the other issues transsexuals face, including ridicule, persecution, low self-esteem and the effects of living in hiding for many decades.
There are some excellent resources that describe in great detail what goes on in these stages.
The transition plan discusses the details of this adjustment period at work. The plan is most probably mislabeled, as it is not the plan I have for my full transition (all four stages), but only the transition from stage 2 (HRT) to stage 3 (RLT) at work.
A Roadmap
As is our style at work, I've developed a roadmap showing the various activities and milestones along the path to transition. The table below shows the overall plan.
| Topic
|
Stage 1:
Therapy
|
Stage 2:
HRT
|
Stage 3:
RLT
|
Stage 4:
SRS
|
Next Steps
|
| Medical
|
- Therapy
- Gender specialist
- Ensure general health
- Begin electrolysis
- Deal with insurance
- Find an endoc.
|
- blood and chemical tests
- Ramp up dosages
- Monitor for side effects & complications
|
- Continue HRT and monitoring
- Obtain 2 letters for SRS
- Choose a surgeon and book a date
|
- Medical prep
- Surgical visit
- Convalescence
- Recovery
|
- Finishing touches, cosmetics, etc.
- Resume hormones, recalibrate dosages
- Changes to insurance coverage, schedules
|
|
Self
|
- Explore and discover true self
- Begin taking control of my life; discipline, exercise, mental work, physical work, healing
- Establish self beyond marriage, family
|
- Begin working on presentation, demeanor, voice, passability
- Discover and celebrate what it means to become myself
- Acquire tools, skills and knowledge to begin living full-time
|
- Prepare mentally for changes, and for the impact of feedback from others
- Work strongly on voice, looks
- Be clear on boundary issues between myself and others
- Change legal identity: name, gender on various forms (DL, SSN, banks, etc)
|
- Ensure proper expectations, education from medical staff
- Mentally prepare and set state for surgery, recovery
- Practice dilligence in physical therapies after surgery
|
- Continue to learn and grow into full self, a never-ending process
- Find an area of my life that I can use to give back what I have received in support, love and peace of mind
|
|
Support
|
- Inform family and closest friends about my situation; enlist their support
- Seek out others of my kind for mutual understanding and support
- Seek out new friends and care-givers that will be able to help me through
- Share my feelings, by supportable, ask and use feedback
|
- Plan for coming out at various places: work, church, broader family and friends.
- Get support and feedback from others on my appearance, demeanor, voice, and passability
- Be open to correction and supportive criticism
|
- Continue to seek support and feedback from supportive people
- Expand circle of support
- Enlist institutional support where needed and helpful
- Ensure people to support my convalescence and recovery
- Ensure that work is supportive of a medical leave of absence
- Have people who can reassure me, lend a hand, listen to my fears and tears, and pain
|
- Continue to seek counsel from close friends
- Cherish the close relationships and nuture them
|
Same
|
|
Social
|
- Develop a social life: go places, meet new people, mix in with church, work, social groups
|
- Continue to add to the social mix
- Find some direct activities associated with gender identity and transition
- Get a date?
|
- Re-introduce self to people in new gender role
- Have a circle of women friends to do things with
- Be a part of women oriented social, work and church affairs
- Get a date?
|
|
|
|
Time Frames
|
3-6 months
|
3-12 months
|
12-24 months
|
3-9 months
|
on and on...
|
Categories: Transition, Work
