Financing considerations

[Danielle1960]

I was recentliy watch DHC on sattelite and found the the transition cost are rather stagering $62,000. Are there any advice on how to secure financing for the feminzation, hormone, and GRS surgerys?
Probably no magic buttons here but I would love to hear how it has been done in the past.
thanks
Danielle

[Rachel_740]

Hi Danielle,

At that sort of price I'd suggest coming here to the UK and paying our over-the-top prices - you'll save thousands;) .

Seriously, it really depends on what you want to have done. I've been doing the obligatory therapy (although I've reduced that now to somewhere around 1 visit every 3 or 4 months (more for a social and to let my therapist know where I am than through need), I've done the psychiatrist bit every 4 months (or so) and I've done laser hair removal.

The only op I'm planning is the obvious one (yes, I could have facial surgery but at this stage I'm pretty happy with the way I look- except for the need for a bit more facial hair removal).

Post op, once my body has settled down I'll review the state of my body hair and if I can get away with epilating or if I need hair removal for my chest and back, but they aren't on veiw to the general public and the amount of body haair I have has reduced loads so I'm leaving that for now.

I suppose overall I'll have a total spend in the region of £15,000 to £20,000. If I were to go for FFS you could add up to another £20,000 to that figure.

The answer really is to do things one stage at a time to make it more managable.

Hope that is of some use to you.

Anne

[MandyTS]

There are two ways to transistion from MTF or FTM, but in this context lets say MTF since that is the most expensive. The first is the fast route (12 - 18 months to full time), the second is the slow route. I believe the slow route (the reason I am choosing) is the best.

BTW in my case, I am planning 5k for therapy and doctors/ hormones (covered via health insurance), 6k for voice surgery, 18k for FFS (brow ridge and nose only, maybe upper lip), 1k for electrolysis (I have maybe 15 facial hairs total) = 40k. I could easy see it being 10k for hair removal and 10k more for FFS being 60k for most people.

My plan is to starting next year save 10k per year for 4 years, that would be about 40k after 4 years and I would be ready for full time by that time.

You can finance transistion, save, win the lottery, etc, but bacially it is up to you how you do it!

[Natasha Anne]

Hi Danielle,

At that sort of price I'd suggest coming here to the UK and paying our over-the-top prices - you'll save thousands;) .

Seriously, it really depends on what you want to have done. I've been doing the obligatory therapy (although I've reduced that now to somewhere around 1 visit every 3 or 4 months (more for a social and to let my therapist know where I am than through need), I've done the psychiatrist bit every 4 months (or so) and I've done laser hair removal.

The only op I'm planning is the obvious one (yes, I could have facial surgery but at this stage I'm pretty happy with the way I look- except for the need for a bit more facial hair removal).

Post op, once my body has settled down I'll review the state of my body hair and if I can get away with epilating or if I need hair removal for my chest and back, but they aren't on veiw to the general public and the amount of body haair I have has reduced loads so I'm leaving that for now.

I suppose overall I'll have a total spend in the region of £15,000 to £20,000. If I were to go for FFS you could add up to another £20,000 to that figure.

The answer really is to do things one stage at a time to make it more managable.

Hope that is of some use to you.

Anne

I agree. It really does depend on what you have done. For example consider the number of electrolysis sessions you might need versus others, then there is the cost of hormones and visits to the psychiatrist and electroysist. The costs of changing you documentation to reflect the correct sex (passport etc), the cost of clothes can be huge (and normally when I see the $60000 number it's because they factored in a wardrobe full of clothing and shoes), and then the obvious things like surgery.

Also don't underestimate how much it can cost to find the right make-up and your style. So you might buy make-up and clothing that just does not suit you, and those things may not be simple to return.

You might also need to factor in unpaid leave, or a leave of absence from your job.

Not all of the costs are obvious, but if you sit down and add them up, including any opportunity costs, it can be much higher than you think.

Other than SRS/FFS many of these costs can be incurred incrementally, or monthly, rather than in one big bang, so you might find you don't need to find finance, other than for the big ticket items like surgery.

[Maria D]

Yeah, I'd agree with that. If it's a slow spend it's much more affordable. I have no idea how much I've spent really, on hormones, psychiatry, clothes and makeup. Perhaps £1000 so far. But the way I figure it is:
I used to smoke, and I managed to afford about £2000 a year on cigarettes and still having enough income. Since I quit 3 years ago, if I live to my old income, I have pots. Of course, it doesn't work like that, I seem to spend more on chocolate instead ;)

I suppose the 2 options really are:
1: Patience and saving what you can, spending on surgery etc either in one big go or bit by bit as you save, or

2: Get a loan of some kind. Means you can get things done faster, but you are saddled with debt and end up paying back more.

Third option is to mug grannies, but I don't recommend that (the pension isn't worth it).

Good luck whatever you do choose.

Take care
Maria.

[Rachel_740]

The costs of changing you documentation to reflect the correct sex (passport etc), the cost of clothes can be huge (and normally when I see the $60000 number it's because they factored in a wardrobe full of clothing and shoes), and then the obvious things like surgery.

I never gave clothes a thought to be honest. I've now been working on my wardrobe for about 2 years and it must have set me back £2500 to £3000. I need more shoes and coats, but otherwise I'm fairly well there on that score.

Name change, driving license and passport costs have been negligable really in the overall scheme.

Anne

[Helana]

Yes I would also imagine that those choose to proceed with transitioning already have a decent wardrobe, make-up collection etc.

You can do what many do and go overseas to places like Thailand. You can have GRS, breast implants, FFS etc and still have change left over from $20,000. Your travel and accommodation would likely only amount to another $4,000.

Hormones need not be expensive either. When I went on hormones here in Asia my monthly cost for estrogen/prostegen/anti androgen was only $20 or $240 per year.

So if you are prepared to travel overseas then the direct cost of transitioning should only be about $25,000 = 15,000 Sterling for everything. That is a significant saving if money is tight.

[DonnaT]

I agree, Thailand would be the place to go for those with limited funding. It is a common surgery there and I've not heard of any complaints from some of the girls that have gone there.

[Danielle1960]

Wow. I knew this would be helpful!! I feel like school is in secession. I'm looking at getting started in the 6 months or so, depending on some issues. The FFS, implants would be the 1st of the major surgeries. I could live for a while while deciding on the other. I read though that an orchedectomy is realitively inexensive and makes the hormones work better. Did anyone go that route?
Thanks for all the information! :-)
Danielle

[Helana]

Danielle

There is a current thread on orchedectomy in the transgenderist forum which you should read.

[stacy_ramos]

Ladies,
I offered this in another thread (not going to spam the forum with links), but PM me if you want info on how to make enough money to finance transistion, buy more cute shoes or indulge yourself in a visit at E2000. I have been so frustrated at the thougt that I barely have enough money to pay my bills much less mnove forward towards the life I need to live. How awesome would it be to be financially independent and not worry about co-workers and bosses or whether or not you can get the BEST surgeon versus the what you can afford surgeon.

[MandyTS]

We make asumptions that you would already have a "makeup and clothing collection" for people transistioning. In reality most people who have clothing either find... 1. they don't fit after hormones, etc, or 2. are too fetish and not avalable for normal wear. Personally I never really bought lots of "female clothing" and actually I will not until I loose about 50 pounds, but in my reality being a girl is not about the clothing, it is about being who I have been all my life...

[Kimberley]

I agree, Thailand would be the place to go for those with limited funding. It is a common surgery there and I've not heard of any complaints from some of the girls that have gone there.
*******
I have been to Thailand and seen the results. The Tgirls were absolutely stunning. For most it was impossible to tell they had been male. Bear in mind the ones I saw were in their early 20's though and the one I talked to in particular started transition when she was in her mid teens.

[pattied]

Wow. I knew this would be helpful!! I feel like school is in secession. I'm looking at getting started in the 6 months or so, depending on some issues. The FFS, implants would be the 1st of the major surgeries. I could live for a while while deciding on the other. I read though that an orchedectomy is realitively inexensive and makes the hormones work better. Did anyone go that route?
Thanks for all the information! :-)
Danielle

Danielle,

Before you go the route of implants, you might want to wait to see what the final results of hormone treatments are. Just a thought. I know that with some, hormones give fantastic natural breats, and with others, nada... And I am not sure where you are in treatments so...

Good luck!!!

[MarieTS]

Danielle: Research tells me that Thailand offers the best bang for the buck. As for having an orchectomy prior to surgery, it is not recommended. One reason is that it doesn't leave the surgeon with enough smooth tissue to fashion a vaginal canal.