The Price of Becoming a Girl

I used to have a page that attempted to document how much it cost me to transition. After a year or so it became apparent that it was an undertaking that didn’t make much sense because everyone is different and needs vary. In place of that page I will instead just summarize the price I’ve paid for certain items and procedures.

First and Foremost: HRT

Paying for HRT can definitely be a burden on the budget. I started off buying Spiro and estrogen from the internet from what seemed to be legitimate online pharmacies based in Europe. This proved to be very expensive and selection was limited.

On average I was spending $450.00 per 3 month supply of testosterone blocker (Spirotone), estrogen (Estrofem) and progesterone (Prometrium). Spending that much money on HRT definitely stressed me out. I did because I felt I had no other choice.

Fortunately the health insurance provided through my job helped pay for the HRT I needed. This is definitely the route I recommend to make HRT affordable. I know not every health insurance plan will cover this sort of stuff. I had valid prescriptions from my doctor which were key. I was able to switch to injectable estrogen and progesterone having a valid prescription and save lots of money getting a compounding pharmacy to fill the prescriptions.

Trying to buy injectable meds from the internet is rather hard not to mention making sure what you get is what you paid for. It’s hard because finding needs and syringes is difficult and also trying to find the correct dose and volume of medication is very hard.

With prescriptions and health insurance coverage, on average I spend $70.00 per 3 month supply for Spiro and estrogen. When I was taking the progesterone it made the 3 month supply average about $90.00. This total is much more affordable.

Therapy

I completely lucked out with my therapist. She doesn’t accept insurance however, she only charges what you can afford and she is very good at what she does. She is one of those few therapists who really want to help and make a difference instead of just trying to make loads of money.

Her name is Dr. Kathleen Farrell and I found out about her through a friend years ago. Utilize local resources and other people who have contacts. You never know who knows who. She was the start of my transition. Without Dr. Farell, I would not of made it as far as I have. Her connections to the community have been invaluable.

Hair Removal

My first experience with laser hair removal was costly. I ended up forking out $650.00 per session every three months! $450.00 was for a facial treatment and $200.00 for treating my belly. I only went for three sessions before I found another laser hair removal place that was run by a couple of transgendered women. Their price was only $350.00 a session for my belly and face.

Either way, I spent around $3300.00 for laser hair removal for my face and my belly. In hind-sight, in my opinion this was a waste because it only gave me relief from having to shave my face everyday for a couple of years. I still had to shave but only once every three days and it was blond hairs. After a few years my face grew back probably 75% of all the dark hairs that were “lasered” off. I was back to shaving my face every day if not twice a day.

If I had to do it over again, I’d go electrolysis. The only thing about electro for me is that it is so painful it scares me to go! I haven’t had electro yet so I cannot comment on the cost but from what I have read, and the pricing per hour around here, it is not going to be cheap.

Surgery

Surgeries are definitely costly especially since the health insurance you pay for all your life doesn’t want to pay out. There are various different surgeries: breast augmentation, gender reassignment, tracheotomy, etc… I haven’t had GRS/SRS and I do not know if I will. The only surgery I have had is breast augmentation and it was the second best thing I ever did; it costs $5000.00 for silicone gel implants.