Transgender Men
In this day and age, a person doesn’t have to remain in a certain body type that doesn’t align with whom they fell they truly are inwardly. And with that said, the following steps include how to transition from a female to a male:
- Accepting Oneself– the first step in this transitioning is accepting who you are. It may have been known your whole life or recently realized, but either way, it’s important to come to terms of your real identity. In accepting who you are, it’s important to take plenty of time in processing the whole situation, perform some research, have a good cry, etc. It’s also important to realize that you are not alone. With this whole situation, it’s vital to become involved in a good support group, and to figure out what all needs to be done to be at peace.
- Come Out– there is no correct time to come out, so it’s not necessary the second step in this transitioning process. It’s just a very important and careful thing that needs to be done. But when you do come out, please be mindful that it would take time for family and friends to refer to you as he/him. They knew you all your/their lives as female. Therefore, it’s going to take time for them to get used to this transition, especially if you never talked about your identity before to or around them.
- Passing as a Guy– doing this would make you feel more comfortable in your skin. Passing as a guy includes wearing boy clothes, wearing male hairstyles, acting more like a guy (not like a female), and other things. Doing this makes the transgender male feel better. They would feel more peaceful and better because they are showing and being more in touch with how they feel inwardly. And in many cases, they would help them until they are able to feel even better than that, once they get hormone treatments or even undergo the whole sex reassignment surgery.
- Finding a Therapist– this is important for two reasons: First of all, feeling trapped in the wrong type of body can be mentally detrimental, and secondly, consulting a psychologist is needed to get confirmation in whether or not you are really transgender. This is important to do before going any further. In some cases, this may be just a phase which could be even more detrimental if you go any further on this road only to change your mind later on. Remember, you can’t revert back if you undergo some surgical procedures. Also, with being mentally detrimental, anxiety, depression, and even suicide attempts can result. Transitioning is a huge step, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Having a few sessions with a psychologist to confirmed diagnosis of gender dysphoria is mandatory.
- Making a Plan– there are a plenty of steps to consider while going thorough this transitioning, and it would take several years to complete. There is the hormones, surgeries, coming out, acceptance, dealing with family and friends, educating them, the adjustment stages associated with co-workers, and other things. So, one can realistically see that it would take more than just a year or two for all of this to happen.
- Optional- Starting Hormone Therapy– this is optional because some trans men can’t afford taking hormone therapy, and some of their bodies can’t accept the testosterone, aka “T”. The treatment is very powerful because it drastically changes the body over time, unlike the estrogen used for MTF’s that is much milder. But even if your body can’t handle hormone therapy, it doesn’t make you less transgender than others.
- Changing Your Name– this can be done legally, and this process should start by the time the “T” process is started. To do this, you must check the laws in your state/country, and the monetary cost could be as much as $200 or more for the processing fees. And then you can update your social security, social insurance, driver’s license and other things concerning your official government identification. Once all of that is done, you’ll want to notify your place of employment or school.
- Undergoing Surgery-If you do decide to go through with surgical procedures, here are the following choices:•
Top Surgery– removes breast tissue to make a more masculine looking chest.
The three main surgeries of top surgery include:
• Bilateral Incision or Bilateral Mastectomy– this is for cup sizes C or bigger which is the only option for those bigger sizes.
• Subcutaneous Mastectomy or Keyhole– best for individuals hardly having any tissue, such as AA.
• Subcutaneous Mastectomy or Peri-Areolar– there is not much scarring as it is with Keyhole.
• Hysterectomy– the uterus removal- this procedure is combined most of the time with Bilateral Salpingo which is the cophorectomy, the removal of fallopian tubes and ovaries.
• Bottom Surgery– male genitalia construction which consists of two types- phalloplasty or metaoidioplasty. Surgeons are able to extend the urethra in order for the penis to be able to urinate. Also, the vagina can be sealed during the procedure, and the person can choose to have the insertion of the prosthetic testicles, and to have the construction of a scrotum.
Bottom surgery is considered cosmetic by some health insurance companies, and thus, the person is financially responsible for this procedure. The cost of bottom surgery ranges from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on the chosen procedure.
Changing your Gender Legally– most of this information is shown under the changing your name area above.