Can we stop with the whole idea that medical transition is necessary to be trans?
There are kids questioning themselves. Aged 12, 13 and 14, even younger. Some kids who don’t even know what dysphoria is or how they feel about their bodies. All they know is that they are not what they were born as.
With the constant idea that trans people need to medically transition, they are pressuring themselves into something they may not even fully understand yet. Medical transition is serious and permanent.
The trans community literally blurs surgery and hormones, as though it’s just something you take and do with no risks. Surgery is still surgery, it is literally being under anaesthetic and being operated on. There are risks. Hormones change your body. It is not some game, really…it is okay to be scared, overwhelmed and not be sure about this, I mean, who wouldn’t be?
When I came out, my doctor asked me if I was going to go through hormones and surgery. I didn’t feel like this was necessary and it didn’t really cross my mind. I didn’t know I had to do this. All I knew was that I wanted to socially transition, to look male. I literally had just come out to him.
I told my doctor that I didn’t think I would ever have hormones or want surgery, all I wanted was to just dress masculine and be called male because I think I wanted to test myself out. He seemed shocked and asked me why and I said that needles and surgery terrified me.
He said he was just wondering because it was common for trans people to go through hormones and surgery, and then asked me about how I feel about my body. I said that I didn’t like it and I wanted it to be more male but with the current methods, I was at odds with what I wanted and what I was scared to go through with. I didn’t feel comfortable with it but told him that I might do when I am older. He then said that it was okay and “that’s just not what you want to do at the moment.”
He was a good doctor believe me, considering he had no knowledge on trans issues. Yet, what he said still made me feel somewhat wrong, like I wasn’t really trans. I felt like medical transition was absolutely necessary to be trans, but listen: it’s not. You are going through your own process and it takes time to understand how you feel about yourself and your body.
Just take your time and experiment with your gender expression. It’s not just waking up one day and knowing you need to go through medical transtion. That’s not how this works. It’s a gradual process, about coming to terms with yourself and what’s necessary and best for you. Don’t feel like you need to do all this to be valid. You are valid, you’re just taking your time and that is okay. If down the line you change your mind, that is okay.
Hey, Trans Community
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