Well after the 4th session with my therapist she suggested HRT and of course I said yes. Then she said okay what you need to do is call and find an endocrinologist and I can write a referral to that doctor well I said don't you know one I can call, she said I need for you to choose one and make the call and we'll talk about it on the next session.
So all this week I have been searching on the internet for endocrinologist near me, I find 3 where I live which none advertise transgender friendly. I expand my search to nearby towns and find some that actually advertise transgender friendly about 2 1/2 hours away. I decide to call one and the receptionist answers the phone and I say I have transgender issues and I'm calling to make an appointment to see about starting HRT, there is a pause for like 5 to 10 seconds which seemed a lot longer than that. I said hello and she like can you hold for just a minute. I get put on hold and someone else comes on so I say the same thing and she says let me put you on hold I will have to ask the doctor, she comes back and says the doctor will see you so I will need your information and a referral I said okay I will have a referral from my therapist and she says you will need one form your general doctor, well I don't have one so your telling me I need to go see a doctor to see your doctor, she says yes. By this time I'm frustrated so I just said I will call you back and hung up. This was supposed to be a transgender friendly doctor and it seemed the persons I talked to had no idea. So I call another in that area and I get the same results so I just gave up.
Well today I decided to call the 3 where I live at and tried a different approach, she answers the phone and I say I would lie to make an appointment to see about getting some blood work done, I figured ounce I got to see the doctor I would tell the doc why I was there and go from there. Well apparently it's not that easy, she says do you have insurance so I say yes and gave her the name. She puts me on hold and comes back, your insurance requires you see a doctor to get a referral to see our doctor. Well after a few choice of words I hung up.
Well I decided to try again, so she answers and I say the same thing that I want an appointment to get some blood work done, do you have insurance, yes but I don't want to use my insurance I will be paying out of pocket. Then she says what type blood work do you need, she names off a few items and then says hormones I say yes I need the hormones one. She says well you’re a new patient and we won't be able to see you until mid-December, I say that will be fine so she gives me a date and I ask who will be the doctor she gives me the name and says don't worry you’re in good hands. Well I'm not sure she really understood that I was talking about HRT because I never mentioned it but I figured once I see the Doc I will explain to him why I'm there and should have my referral from my therapist. I just hope he is willing to help if not I'll be back to square one.
Didn't know it would be this hard!