injections are easier on your liver than pills, and injections also are a little more bioavailable and it effects the body faster than the pill, but they will both give you the desired effect. Like with all medications it's important to have a doctor managing your hormone therapy. Cost wise, that is an important question to ask the doctor, if you are seeing a doctor that deals with M2F transition, they my know of resources that are available to help with cost. I don't know where you live but sometime your local LGTB community might be able to help you as well. Cost is usually effected by whether or not you have insurance and will insurance cover hormone therapy. Take to your doctor and just be honest with your doctor, they maybe able to give you samples and might be able to get it covered by insurance, and if not, they may know ways to make it less expensive. Hope things work out, happy transitioning:-)

I don't have a doctor that specializes in transgender patients. My therapist has helped other transgender patients, but I am her first that came to her before I started. I started going to her shortly after I turned 18.

it is really hard to answer the cost part. It varies from situation to situation. From what I am seeing on a quick check online they cost about $50 a month, but that will also depend on what your pharmacy's cost is so I would say anywhere from about $40-$75 a month for the pills (this is only the estradiol and spiro, if pregestrone is added then you will also have to account for that cost). That said, some insurances cover hormones and as such the cost could be a copay or nothing at all. Medicare/cade covers all transgender medications at 100%, so for someone on that it would be completely free, but someone with no insurance it may be $100 a month. The shots will be WAY more expensive as they will require a doctors visit and thus you are adding the cost of a visit to the cost of the meds. You know what the cost for your therapist is, you will need to get an Endocrinologist or an MD skilled in HRT for the hormones, so again there is something to consider. This will be a visit every 6 months on average. You will also towards the end need to see a psychiatrist (full board certified MD PSY or Psy D) for your second surgical letter. SRS is anywhere from about 20K to 75K depending on the doctor, getting to the doctor, facility costs and so on.

Again Medicare/Cade pays for all of it at 100%, my insurance covers the meds, doctor visits and mental health at copay rates, so 20 per visit for doc and therapist, and like $12 for meds. Someone who has no insurance or who's insurance completely excludes all treatment for Transgender matters will be paying 100% out of pocket. You really need to know what your insurance is, what it covers in its entirety and how much you will be responsible for. I am not sure if this helps but its really the best I can do since I don't know your specific situation. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES attempt to self medicate hormones... you can kill yourself doing it. Go to a doctor with your letter and do it properly. The 2 years you listed is the time it takes for the hormones to get you through "puberty" again. You will start seeing changes in about 8 months and may feel them within a week to 6 months. After the 6 month mark, you cannot reverse any changes that they have done to you. If you think you may want to ever have kids, then you need to get swimmers frozen for that future thing. So that would be cost added too. Do it the right way though, go through the medical channels and take the meds only while under a physicians care.

As for hormones, and depending on the state where you live, making an appointment to see one of the doctors at Callen Lorde http://callen-lorde.org/contact-us/ will be good start, and yes they are transgender-friendly. Once the appointment is scheduled, it might be required for you to bring a letter from your therapist. What to expect at the clinic? Filling out forums, and then the doctor(s) will sit down and talk to you in privacy, you can talk about the cost of hormones there, the treating goes by your age to determine wither injection or pills is right for you, it will also help that you do your own online research about what hormones you want to be on. This might require another return back to the clinic, that is when the treating doctor prescribe to you the hormones. Yes, they also have a pharmacy within the same building.

Rhonda

Rhonda