The Cost Of Transition

[Vicki Richter]

I'm in for $50k+ on just surgical type stuff

Thailand trip Suporn - $10k (forehead/hairline, nose, chin, implants)
2nd breasts - $6500
Feminization lipo - $6000
2nd nose - $6000
Jaw/ 2nd chin Ousterhaut - $14k
laser - $4k
Hormones - I can't really add this up, quite a bit

What girls forget is that even then, you have cloths to buy, makeup to buy, shoes to buy. If you do porn you need a whole 2nd wardrobe of hooker clothes and shoes.

I think that 1 in maybe 10,000 TS girls can get away with transitioning with no FFS at all... and if you aren't latin or asian, that number would be somewhere around 1 in a million - at least from a quality of life perspective. Girls might be able to get away with a lot less and have a comfortable quality of life. For example, I was a pornstar with just laser, hormones, and my first thailand trip.

[peggygee]

Get the body you want today!



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[lisaparadise]

Inspired by the thread 'When ya get plastic surgery...?', thought it would be interesting to start a thread about the cost of all this treatment. Might give some of the guys on here an idea of some of the shit you TG's have to go through. Understand this may be personal, so just looking for a general outline.

well this is a cool topic,the cost of a transition is huge horomones 4 years $2880.00 lazer hair removal $1600.00 photofacials $1200.00 dental $800.00 electrolocysis$75.00 an hr silicone in face and body $3500.00 and counting surguries $11.000.00 boobs $8000.00 not to mention make up and clothing so far my transition has cost over $30.000.00 and counting and thats just what i have spent since july of last year,by this time next year i will be way over 50 thousand dollars hope this gives you an idea of the cost.

[ottorocket]

I admire you women. If i get as much as a shaving nick i get woozie from the sight of blood..lol All these operations are seriously hard core surgery and it seems going to another country for cheaper costs may have its increased risks??? How does that play into your decisions where to get it done ladies? Cost vs safety? Or is it also Dr. experience? In any regards, its money well spent.

[lisaparadise]

I admire you women. If i get as much as a shaving nick i get woozie from the sight of blood..lol All these operations are seriously hard core surgery and it seems going to another country for cheaper costs may have its increased risks??? How does that play into your decisions where to get it done ladies? Cost vs safety? Or is it also Dr. experience? In any regards, its money well spent.

cost vs safety well its this simply, there are risks in anything we do weather we go outside and get hit by a car or watch my leafs on the tube and drop dead of a heart attack and if yer a leafs fan ya know what i mean lol,i went to get my surgeries done in mexico and i can tell you i will never go there again,the doctor was cool as well as his wife but thats about it,hardly anyone speaks english there hey let me tell you what happened ,when i got there off the plane in gaudelaharja the doctors wife picked me up and drove me to the clinic this was about 8 at night i was to go under the knife at 7 am the next morning,the doc came in at 6 am wrote on my face and body i has a complete facelift ffs upper and lower eye lifts top lip moved up hairline moved down 2 broken ribs and lypo all around.i was so scared you have no idea before i left i did my will picked out a dress and had my son who is 20 now take my life insurance policy incase of emergancy anyways after 2 days in the clinic i booked my return flight for the 3rd day after my operations,i took a cab to the airport got on a plain to mexico city during the flight we were held up and my flight to toronto left without me,so here i was in a 3rd world country nobody to help me i was blind cause of all the silicone i had put in my face had been coming out my eyes and sticking them together so after 3 hrs of trying to find my bags i went to mexicana airlines told them my flight left while i was still in the air and they said too badd ill have to book again for the next day so i said whatever gimmie my ticket he said that will be 660 bucks i said fuck you your the assholes that left without me your reimbursing me for my ticket so i can go home the whole time im crying cause i was emmbarraced with bloodied bandages on my head so i siad please find me a hotel for the night they said to me find my own i was so pissed and upset the tears were burning my eyes filled with silicone so i found my way outside got into a cab after i asked if he could take me to a hotel for the night,he drove like a maniac he went over a bump doing like 100 klms an hour i hit my head off the top of his cab and split my stitches in my forhead open with blood dripping down my face into my mouth and all over my clothing i was more upset then ive ever been i was dropped at a hotel im standing there in the lobby with blood dripping everywhere trying to book a room,i asked to have a doc or nurse to come into my room and sew me up no such luck i had to complress the would so it would stop bleeding to make a long story short ill never return there ever

[blackmagic]

Inspired by the thread 'When ya get plastic surgery...?', thought it would be interesting to start a thread about the cost of all this treatment. Might give some of the guys on here an idea of some of the shit you TG's have to go through. Understand this may be personal, so just looking for a general outline.

well this is a cool topic,the cost of a transition is huge horomones 4 years $2880.00 lazer hair removal $1600.00 photofacials $1200.00 dental $800.00 electrolocysis$75.00 an hr silicone in face and body $3500.00 and counting surguries $11.000.00 boobs $8000.00 not to mention make up and clothing so far my transition has cost over $30.000.00 and counting and thats just what i have spent since july of last year,by this time next year i will be way over 50 thousand dollars hope this gives you an idea of the cost.

LOL!!! whats the saying? NEVER GIVE A WOMEN A CREDIT CARD!!

[peggygee]

Transgender Health Benefits
Most people are covered by some form of health insurance, whether it be employer provided, Medicare/Medicaid, or purchased by the individual. These health plans normally cover necessary medical care. Typical health plans have an exclusion list declaring certain types of medical care to be uncovered. Nearly all medical plans include transsexual needs on their exclusion list.
What Medical Treatments are Required?
Transsexuals usually must undergo

Psychological counselling, for the initial diagnosis, for guidance through the transition, and to obtain the letter required for surgery
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) to adjust their body to their new gender role
Doctor's office visits in support of HRT. This includes lab work and other monitoring of the HRT.
Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), "the operation" changing their genitals to match their new gender role:
Transsexual women undergo penectomy and vaginaplasty. This procedure usually costs from $10,000 to $15,000.
Transsexual men usually undergo bilateral mastectomy and hysterectomy. In some cases they also elect phalloplasty (construction of a penis) but, since this operation is expensive and the results are often not very good, the standard SRS for transmen is mastectomy and hysterectomy.
These procedures are not optional, but may be required to save a life. They are also required by mosts states before personal documentation, such as the drivers license and birth certificate, can be updated with a new gender marker, permitting the person to live a normal life.
Yet many insurance policies exclude coverage of these needs.

In addition, a transsexual may optionally choose various cosmetic surgeries to make their appearance more typical of their new sex. For example, plastic surgery on the face or torso, or breast implants if the results of HRT are insufficient. Hair removal by electrolysis or laser is usually needed by transgender women. We do not necessarily advocate that these cosmetic surgeries be covered by insurance unless other similar cosmetic surgery is covered by a particular plan.

Is refusal to cover transgender health benefits discriminatory? This can best be answered by checking to see if the same medical procedures would be covered for non-transsexuals by the same plan. Is Hormone Replacement Therapy covered for post-menopausal women? Would Vaginoplasty or Phalloplasty be covered after an accidental injury or cancer? Are Mastectomies or Hysterectomies covered in case of cancer? Would gynocomastica, caused by a hormone imbalance, be covered? These are some of the same treatments and procedures needed by transsexuals. A fair health plan covers the same procedure for all employees, whether or not it is related to transsexualism.

Costs
The average cost for a male-to-female surgery is about $11,000. Adding in a cost of about $1000 for therapy, $1500 for hormones, and $500 for doctors visits and lab tests, the cost to transition averages about $14,000 over a two year transition period. (After completion of surgery, ongoing costs drop dramatically to cover only a small maintenence level of hormones.)

If these procedures are not covered by insurance, the transsexual must pay for them personally. Most surgeons require payment in advance. People have to save money for years to complete their transition. Those in lower paying jobs often can never afford the surgery. The impact on an individual can be overpowering.

How much would it cost your company to cover the basic medical needs of a transsexual? Transsexualism is very rare. According to the DSM-IV, it affects an estimated 1 in 30,000 people, The latest research estimates that the total annual cost per insured is $.11 to cover surgery, or $.64 to cover surgery, hormones, and therapy. With medical insurance costing upwards of $4,000 per year, the to cover THBs would be about .004%.

TAW has prepared a Research Report. that will help employers estimate the cost of THBs for their work force.

Is treatment considered "Medically Necessary?"
When a company decides to cover medical needs for its transsexual employees, it's not uncommon for the insurance company to still refuse coverage. Typical plans are worded so that the insurance company makes the determination, even though the plan is employer designed. It is often necessary to appeal to the company to approve coverage that the employer intended to cover.
In the past, it was commonplace for an insurer to claim that transsexual needs were experimental or cosmetic. The original surgery of Christine Jorgenson in 1952 was experimental. Today, the procedures are routine, and thousands undergo them each year. Those undergoing the surgery must comply with the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care which strictly outlines the diagnosis and procedure that must be followed for a true, medically necessary transition.

Recently, insurance companies have begun to claim that transsexual procedures are not medically necessary. When encountering such terms as experimental and medically necessary it is helpful to refer to the definitions of these terms as often used in medical practice. One useful glossary is on the Lucent benefits web site at http://216.220.43.231/mgt/library/mep/content.asp. The set of definitions can be found at http://216.220.43.231/mgt/library/mep/pdf/terms.pdf (If the web address above has changed, the content can be found here.)

When referring to these terms, language such as "standard, tested and accepted effective practice by the medical community at large" and "recognized standards of the health care speciality involved" will be found. It is useful to follow the logic of this standard. A transsexual is usually diagnosed with "Gender Identity Disorder", 302.85 in the DSM IV. Following the accepted psychological, psychiatric, and medical treatment for this diagnosis, one finds that the appropriate standard of diagnosis and treatment is the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care. These standards outline the appropriate and effective treatment for Gender Identity Disorder, including counselling, medical, and surgical. Applying the definitions, most practitioners will conclude that the treatments are indeed medically necessary by the recognized standards for medical necessity.

The Harry Benjamin Standards address this issue directly:

Sex Reassignment is Effective and Medically Indicated in Severe GID. In persons diagnosed with transsexualism or profound GID, sex reassignment surgery, along with hormone therapy and real-life experience, is a treatment that has proven to be effective. Such a therapeutic regimen, when prescribed or recommended by qualified practitioners, is medically indicated and medically necessary. Sex reassignment is not "experimental," "investigational," "elective," "cosmetic," or optional in any meaningful sense. It constitutes very effective and appropriate treatment for transsexualism or profound GID.

[NadiaUSA]

I get scared to think about foreign doctors.

My surgery was expensive. My doctor is Gary Alter fron the "DR 90210" show on E channel in Beverly Hills, CA

My hormones are all the most expensive and only from american doctors.
Laser and Electrolisys were in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills, CA

http://www.altermd.com/

Total probaly in the $50,000 range and I am not done yet.

[blackmagic]

I get scared to think about foreign doctors.

My surgery was expensive. My doctor is Gary Alter fron the "DR 90210" show on E channel in Beverly Hills, CA

My hormones are all the most expensive and only from american doctors.
Laser and Electrolisys were in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills, CA

http://www.altermd.com/

Total probaly in the $50,000 range and I am not done yet.

LOL i was seriously thinking of going to that dude but i think most his work is in the SRS.

[SarahG]

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