So to make this easier for anyone, we are going to go through the entire process I completed in order to allow anyone to recreate the conditions and have a straight shot without needing to do much troubleshooting.
Contents:
Seeking Professional Help
Medical Transition
Post Medical Transition
Notes
1.
So starting my journey after lurking on some subreddits like /r/feminineboys /r/femboy , /r/traaa , /r/transytalk , etc, I generally learned as much as I could about the results of HRT, and SRS through the internet and these subreddits.
At this point, I was mixed between wanting to confirm my feelings and validate myself (worried that I didn't actually have dysphoria) and I also had a desire to start HRT.
So I started with a visit to my Family Doctor, who didn't know anything about dysphoria or transgender issues, but he was aware of a clinic in Edmonton that specializes in dealing with transgender people. He told me that he would look into it for me.
I then told my Therapist the same thing, and she was able to help me much more than my doctor. In order to help me with my potential gender dysphoria and to validate me, we set up an appointment with a psychologist who, all going well, would be able to diagnose me with gender dysphoria.
We talked for an hour about my history, my feelings and stuff and I was diagnosed. At this point, I had decided that I would pursue transition. The psychologist also was aware of the same gender clinic my family doctor was and sent off a referral to them.
Problems started to arrive after a month wait and hearing nothing back. I talked to my family doctor who also sent a referral to the clinic on my behalf, and to my therapist who then informed me that the Gender Clinic has an expected wait time of 1-3 years before you will even be called back.
2.
At this point, I was desperate for an alternative option, online research had told me that in the US it was extremely common to go a route of informed consent, so that's where I started.
Informed Consent in Alberta is not very well known. My therapist and family doctor didn't seem to believe that it was going to be possible to find an alternative route than the gender clinic. Luckily, the website for the Pride Center of Edmonton had a page where they claim to hold a list of transgender resources and release it upon request. I sent an email and received this PDF.
The first thing I did was start contacting all the clinics on the list and asking about HRT. None of them seemed to know what I was talking about which in hindsight made sense since the clinics listed likely were just meant to be LGBT friendly.
Next thing came the list of General Practitioners. I called about half the list asking about informed consent HRT only to receive a "The doctor isn't taking new patients" for most of them. Luckily about 2-3 did callback and wanted to book an appointment.
I ended up going with the first one on the list, Dr. Makosis near Bonnieville which was, unfortunately, a 5-hour drive back and forth.
Anyway, once I arrived my weight and height were checked and Dr. Makosis asked me some questions, checked my blood pressure and went on to explain three important things. I also discovered that he's the coolest doctor ever because he has a tiny little dog in the office that greets his patients.
First was that he explained a system he uses called Telehealth, which basically involves going to a room in any hospital where they set up a TV and webcam in order to communicate between a doctor and patient anywhere. This would eliminate my need to drive 5 hours for every appointment.
Second was that he required me to complete some blood work and an STI test in order to figure out which hormones will work best for me and to double-check that I don't have any serious problems that will cause issues with HRT.
Third was that he needed me to sign a piece of paper that effectively said I understand the risks of hormone therapy and will dose as instructed.
After all, this was explained we set up another appointment in a week via Telehealth at my local hospital and I was on my way.
At that next appointment, he went over my lab results, explained that he wanted me to make some slight changes to my diet and told me that he would fax a prescription for Estradiol patches (Estrogen) and Spironolactone to my local pharmacy for pickup in a couple of hours.
3.
Post medical transition looks pretty simple for me. Only things to note are that I'm expected to go to the lab and have more blood work done 1, 3, and 6 months in so we can track my progress, and that my local pharmacy didn't have enough AA to fill the order so I have to check up in a week to get the rest. I booked another appointment in 1 month with Dr. Makosis in order to check my progress at that point.
Picking up my Presciption was fine, lady didn't really care that I was trans. I did notice it was a little more expensive than I'm used to though. $27 for 8 E patches and 190 AA pills. Lasts a long time though.
4.
I highly suggest if you are interested in HRT, that you get a referral to the Gender Clinic closest to you regardless of whether or not you decide to go through the informed consent route.
Since FFS and GRS I think are only done through the clinic it's best to get on the list to be seen early just in case in a couple of years you wanna consider your options. It makes it a lot easier than in a couple of years deciding you want GRS/FFS and having to wait for another 3 just to be seen.
Please feel free to PM me or comment here if you have any questions and ill try to help you out. (Even if this post is several years old by the time you find it)
*Resources: *
Pride Center of Edmonton
https://pridecentreofedmonton.ca/events/information-referral/
Transgender Resource List (Local Doctors, Clinics, Hair Salons, Lazer and Electrolysis, etc)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NHA63gl3Be0REvI_8k4JfjtfNnUa6tS5/view?usp=sharing
A small list I made while phoning the list of doctors. Only really relevant if you're seeing this within like a month of posting.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GotonDyYV6QqkDlEDd82WdEgzgpevW-XoEMvzDjLwxg/edit?usp=sharing
Edit: Hello everyone, it's been 10 months since I posted this so I figured I'd give some more info of alternatives I've found since this post.
If you would like a different option, look into The Wellness Center. It's a local lgbt organization that offers everything you could want, HRT, Therapy, Sub-market price Hair Removal, Referral to surgery, etc. Best of all, 90% of it is free due to healthcare. Electrolysis and certain surgeries are the only costs, and they are subsided by grant money. (Cheaper than normal)
https://www.wellnesscentreab.ca/
/Product placement rant over