I’ve been getting more comfortable with the idea of starting hrt. The 2 main reasons I havent yet are the current US politics and also I’m not ready for my parents to know about that yet and as far as I am aware they would know because I’m on their insurance and it would be in the bill. Diy avoids both of those things though. The one thing idk about is actually paying for it. I’m in college rn and while I did make a good amount of money over the summer, spending $20 per month or however much it is doesn’t really sound great but because it is something I genuinely need im not sure and I just want to avoid going through my parents and the medical system
Edit: Also realized I should mention that I am an adult because that’s probably important with informed consent stuff
Just a guess without looking anything up, it will probably cost more than $20/month. Personally, I recommend going the clinical route since you are in the US and the quality of care is generally good. Opinions vary on monotherapy (which DIY generally is) vs E and spiro. In general, you’ll want your levels checked every now and then, and you’ll want to avoid smoking anything as that can interfere. (I’m in a town where everyone is kinda sketchy so I’m biased to assume people might have addictions, eating disorders, or other issues that complicate things.)
the issue with being in the US is with his things are right now I’m worried that the “good care” could get taken away very soon bc of the current politics situation. I don’t really know much about how the clinical stuff works besides if you dont get it through planned parenthood you have to be diagnosed and it’s a huge wait but I might be completely wrong
If you don’t do it through a provider who does the informed consent route, they refer you to therapy initially AFAIK. FWIW I think it’s worth trying the clinical route first (Planned Parenthood or otherwise) so that you have experience doing it “right” if your fears actually do come to pass. The federal political climate is a serious concern.
As for your parents, it’s good to probe a little bit to know what their opinions are on various queer issues. They will probably try to support you in general, but based on what they know or how they perceive everything around them, they might try to “help” in harmful ways if they’re like that. Are they baby boomers? Do they know what trans people are, and the difference (and overlap) between trans and gay? Do they believe in trans rights, or human rights more generally? Are they religious, conscientious, nationalist, liberal, or what? These are the kinds of things you should know about them before broaching the subject, and you can come out in stages if that seems better to you.
I’m kind of out to my parents they know that I go by a different name and I’ve only told them that I’m nonbinary. they seem to be supportive of my sister who’s lesbian as well. I don’t know if I can deal with being forced through more therapy to get hrt because my mental health has been in the gutter for the past 3 years and I would preferably not have to “prove” to a cis person that I have severe gender dysphoria
in the U.S. you don’t have to get therapy first to get access to HRT, just go to a provider with informed consent - Planned Parenthood for example should be able to give you HRT based on informed consent.
It’s cool that you have a queer sibling. It sounds like you parents aren’t a problem but some parts of the medical establishment may be. Here’s an old Reddit post with discussion on the subject. There might be more up-to-date info now but I think this is a good start:
https://old.reddit.com/r/MtF/comments/d6p6xm/a_map_of_every_informed_consent_no_therapist/
it’s just that I’m not ready to have that conversation with my parents yet but I need to medically transition as soon as possible. thank you for the resource
Do you think it might risk the future support of your parents if you start DIY behind their back rather than try to do it the proper way first and in a transparent fashion?
I can’t tell your situation, but if it’s possible they would be accepting and supportive of starting HRT, it might be worth figuring that out first and then starting HRT through a doctor if it’s possible. Then if they aren’t supportive, you can always start DIY knowing you tried the other way first.
If you start with DIY, you risk alienating the parents if they find out you are using DIY, usually people (doctors, parents, etc.) will not understand or accept that the risks of DIY are worth it. Getting people off DIY onto regulated, safe sources of hormones is seen as a form of harm reduction by doctors, for example.
I can imagine being a parent and learning my child bought unregulated grey-market drugs from the internet and have been injecting themselves with it would absolutely scare the shit out of me, and I would probably try to put a stop to that behavior, and it would certainly make me less sympathetic and more afraid of the whole prospect of HRT.