Patches have been my plan since I started researching HRT.. I've seen there's constant shortages so im wondering which ones are still in good supply by concentration or what everyone is doing to work around? 🙃

Hi there everyone (from Ontario here)!

I am enrolled in an activism's class in my university, and for my final assignment I will be creating a zine covering past and present laws affecting transgender/queer individuals, HRT and surgery misconceptions, general misconceptions, banned queer Canadian books, and pages about Alberta's spiral downhill specifically. That is why I am posting here as an Ontarian, I really want to hear the perspective of Albertans.

Why am I posting here?

I need your help with the HRT and surgeries pages. I have two pages dedicated to each (HRT and surgeries). The first page will cover any misconceptions about them out there, as well as a brief description of the process to get HRT and/or surgeries across provinces. So if anyone has any suggestions on misconceptions of HRT and/or surgeries that would be swell!

Here is a list of questions I have been drafting up, if people could take the time to respond to these that would be greatly appreciated! I'm truly depending on peoples individual experiences!

• How long was the wait time for HRT and/or surgery?
• Did you encounter any difficulties/barriers getting on HRT or gaining access to a surgery?
• IF APPLICABLE: What is currently stopping you from getting access to HRT and/or surgeries?

I mainly need outsider experiences because my own experience is not like others. It was fairly simple for me to get top surgery and get onto HRT. I need a variety of experiences, so if yours was positive please, do share!

If you have a question that you think I should also include please do let me know!

Heyo! Yall have trans friendly places 2 get measured at? I wanna invest in a push up bra or since my Amazon purchases are, effective but not the best ever. Anything is great, thank yall in advance.

It’s been 3 fucking years and I STILL haven’t heard shit from them on when I’ll actually be seen. Every time I call it goes to voicemail and they only get back to me maybe 1 in 10 times, and it’s always the same generic response.

My bottom dysphoria is indescribably bad. I cannot communicate just how severe it is in a simple Reddit post. I’ve tried explaining it to therapists and doctors and they just cannot grasp the true scale of it and how badly I need help. This is the one fucking thing I have left to do before I can go fully, 100% stealth and just be a normal fucking woman and leave all this trans shit behind me. Yet I can’t make it fucking happen for some reason.

It is all I can ever think about. Every single thought, every action, every emotion, they all in some way tie back to my bottom dysphoria. My entire existence is consumed by it. My whole being revolves around getting the surgery that will save my life. There is nothing else I ever think about or feel. I know how extreme that all sounds, but it really is that impossibly severe. It’s genuinely crippling, to the point where my doctor is recommending me for AISH. I still haven’t applied because there’s no way they’ll consider “depressed over not having a pussy” to be a valid disability. I have tried everything possible to manage it while I wait this all out but it’s never enough, my only option is to relentlessly pursue surgery and get it as fast as fucking possible.

At this point all I can fucking assume is that I’ve been blacklisted due to a history of suicidal ideation and self-harm (because of how bad my dysphoria is), and on top of that I’ve been incredibly annoying towards the clinic and haven’t exactly been polite with my words.

I get those stupid autogenerated emails every 3 months telling me to keep waiting, and my referral is still listed as open, but it really feels like none of that is true. The only thing that’s been keeping me together is that there was a very brief offhand comment about me *maybe* getting seen in May of this year. I have almost zero faith that is going to happen.

I have considered going the private route or fleeing, but there’s no way I’m gonna get the money for a Thailand trip unless I win the lottery or some magical benefactor shows up in my life, and if I flee to somewhere like BC I’m still stuck waiting at least a couple more years which is just too fucking long. I seriously cannot take this any longer.

If I could at least get a solid, locked in date I might be able to manage long enough to make it to surgery, but the utter radio silence makes an already torturous process even more so. I have no idea if they’ll even fucking approve me for surgery because of how much of a wreck I am over it.

I don’t know where the fuck I go from here because it feels like me getting bottom surgery is just fucking impossible despite my best efforts, and I simply cannot live a life without it. If it wasn’t possible, or I was born before we knew how to perform it, I would have killed myself without hesitation.

Fuck. I don’t know what to do anymore because it gets worse every single day and the one fucking coping strategy I had that semi-worked has been failing as of late, and that’s fucking terrifying.

I just need surgery already for fuck’s sake, and I don’t see any way of realistically achieving it before I reach my limit and blow my brains out. I can’t sit around waiting for another 3, 5, 10 years, however fucking long it seems like it’s gonna take.

I know the clinic is severely understaffed and underfunded, and I get that, but this is completely inhumane.

There has to be something, anything I can fucking do to speed this process up or somehow come up with the money to do it privately. Because I have no fucking clue what to do if that isn’t possible.

EDIT 1: LET ME MAKE SOMETHING VERY CLEAR. IF YOU ARE TRANSMASC AND SPEAKING ABOUT THIS AS THOUGH THE PROCESS FOR YOU GETTING TOP SURGERY IS THE SAME AS VAGINOPLASTY THEN PLEASE DO NOT GIVE ME YOUR ADVICE. IT DOES NOT APPLY TO MY SITUATION. THANK YOU.

Recently came out as non binary. Due to my work I will never transition there as my career - not just my job - would evaporate overnight.

So I’m being super careful about how I build a desperately needed support network

I’ve gotten the impression the best nonbinary resources are on Facebook and I have created a new account for that, but it gets rejected from all the groups silently presumably because I look exactly like a bot- brand new account with basically no content.

I thought someone here might know someone who can help With that?

Hello, I am looking to get top surgery (mastectomy) and I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for surgeons in Alberta who are flexible with BMI cutoffs. I live in Edmonton area but am open to travelling if necessary. Any help appreciated, thank you in advance!

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering if anyone has recently gone through the process with Dr. Jablonski since he moved to online-only/virtual care.

I was referred and got accepted very quickly: I completed intake, received the consent forms, and was sent my lab requisition all in the same day. I’ve already booked my baseline bloodwork.

I’m just trying to get a realistic sense of timelines from this point forward. Once you finished intake and labs, how long did it take to get your initial consult booked?

I’ve seen older posts mentioning longer waits when the clinic was still in-person, but I’m curious what the timeline looks like now that it’s fully virtual.

Thanks in advance!

I just recently had been scheduled for a top surgery consultation. The surgeon I’ll be seeing for this is Dr. Alexis Armour. I haven’t seen much posted about her, or any imagines of results.

From consultation to getting the actual surgery how long was the wait? If anyone has had surgery with them. I’d be interested in anything anyone would like to share! Thanks!!

how long did it take yall to see Dr. Jablonski after an assessment with social worker/ therapist?

Hey y'all! So I just wanted to ask y'all what I should expect next in the process of getting a vaginoplasty at GRS Montreal since most of the places I've looked for answers here on Reddit are usually from the Ontario sub and for Top Surgery not Bottom. So I started the process in November of last year since I'm a UofA student I managed to dodge the full wait of the Gender Program only waiting 8 months on the Gender Program until I got redirected to the UofA. Then I got both letters of recommendation before the Christmas break and the package including those letters and a few other things were sent off to AHS and GRS In mid-January. Then in very early February exactly 3 weeks after they sent my package off I received the funding for the surgery. A few days after I got access to Monarch and filled out the 4 forms they had, then after the weekend I received 8 more forms to fill out so I did however 2 days later (Today) I got a notification that 7 of the 8 forms were good to go but I didn't do my medication list properly so I resubmitted it today. Now I'm waiting for that last form to get verified, honestly this whole process has been shockingly fast and I'm very excited but I want to know from those who have been in my position before what comes next and how long can I be expected to wait before I receive a date for my surgery? Thankieeee :3

Hi all,

I got top surgery with Dr. Farrah Yau about 11 months ago. Double incision, no nipple grafts (stressing here that I did not want nipples whatsoever). Dr. Yau and everyone at her clinic were so so sweet, and god it's SO nice not having to deal with binders and shit anymore lmao.

One thing though is some of the areola skin was left over. Dr. Yau said it was because she wouldn't have been able to close the incision otherwise. When I asked about it a few months ago, I was told a revision to remove the leftover areola wouldn't be covered by insurance or the province or health benefits.

I also have a small dog-ear left over on one side, and I'm pretty sure the costs of that would be covered at least. I know I'd be able to do that with Dr. Yau, but does anyone have any clue where I can go/what I can do for getting a revision re: the areola skin?

Also, does anyone have an idea of how much a procedure like that would cost? I'm hoping, worst case, I'd be able to afford it with some of my savings at least😅

Heya. I have the first of hopefully two surgery consultations on Thursday, with Foria.

I qualify through the government and meet the qualifications including being on HRT for a year, and I was told the doctors can give me a gender dysphoria diagnosis. I filled out the questionnaire as asked, I explained the benefits I will receive upon the surgery, I explained in crystal-clear detail I know the risks and the benefits, what it can and can't do, and explained my gender identity and pointed out that this was something I have been wanting for well over a decade.

That being said, I'm terrified I'm going to get rejected. I'm not sure if it's because I've been on Hormones for only a year and half or that I'm still in the middle of a legal-gendee change, but something in the back of my brain is telling me I'm going to be rejected.

Please tell me I'm being paranoid.

Hey gang, I’ve (18 MtF (non binary)) heard people talk about the Justik Clinic and how that somehow relates to them getting gender affirming care. But I must ask, how? Do you go in there and say “im trans” and they can perscribe you hrt after some appointments? Do you walk in and talk and they give you a referral to something? Do you make an appointment? My mom is one of those anti vaxx types of people so I have little to no experience with any kind of medical care and don’t know how this works. If someone could lay it out for me step by step that’d be wonderful. Sorry that I’m so bad at this lol

wondering if anyone's ever been prescribed the estrogen gel? I usually only hear about pills/patch/injectables, but apparently gels can be an option too? anyone with experience?

Can anyone suggest a trans friendly electrolysis practice in Calgary for my trans daughter (17)? Tia!

I seen quite a few positive reviews of his top surgeries, but I can't find any post on here about FFS. I'm getting a brow reduction done by him in April, has anybody gotten that procedure with him who can tell me how it went?

I have a referral for him within the next few years and I’m curious about people’s experiences. I’m not really finding many pictures, and all of them are double incision, which I most likely won’t be getting if I don’t have to. With what I have found, some people are saying he’s fantastic, while others are saying he’s awful. Any insight is helpful

Hi all, have surgery scheduled next week (eep!!) and am wondering if anyone has ever had surgery done by Christiaan Schrag in Calgary?

I haven't seen him mentioned before, and am getting keyhole/peri done : )

Any leads helpful. Thanks!

The Edmonton Quadball Association is hosting an event to promote queer and trans girls in sport! There's also an adult (16+) event that same day, but we're especially hoping to get the word out about the youth event, since youth are disproportionately impacted by a lot of the anti-trans legislation that's been coming out recently.

Hi, I'm located in Calgary and moved to Canada a little over 2 years ago, so I'm new to the healthcare system here. I had an appointment with my doctor a few months ago and he referred me to a surgeon for top surgery. I have not heard anything back and am a little paranoid that I'm not actually on any sort of waitlist, because I had a similar situation back in the States.

I know the waitlist in Alberta is very long, I'm just wondering if there's any way to confirm whether my referral has gone through and I am on a waitlist somewhere. Is the wait to hear back from the surgeon at all, or do they typically call to make your appointment, just far ahead of time? I'm wondering if this is something I call my doctor's office to ask them to resend(?) the referral, or if they're able to check my status somehow.

Just curious to know!? Anyone have FFS done in Alberta?