Information collection made by and for the trans community.
Transitioning
The first and most important thing to note is that there is no one way to transition, everybody follows a different path. In the following I am simply laying out the most common steps in a social and medical transition. Some individuals may follow this exactly, while some skip steps, or go in a different order. All transitions are unique and valid.
IMPORTANT: Mental Health is a crucial and mandatory part of transitioning, especially for minors. Each step in transition is supported by a mental health professional. The following is based on the World Professional Association ofTransgender Health's Standards of Care (WPATH-SOC)
Coming out/Social Transition
So your child has just come out as transgender, what now? The first step in transitioning is the social transition. This is the process of using new pronouns, a new name, and starting to make certain changes to gender presentation. This can include cutting or styling their hair in a different way, buying new clothes, and changing accessories to better suit their gender identity.
The name and pronoun stage of social transition can be long, while your child tries to figure out what pronouns feel most comfortable, and what name they feel at home in, your patience is appreciated. Once a name and pronoun set are more concrete, you can begin asking other people in you and your child's life to use these, you may also choose to bring this up with school, requesting to use gender affirming facilities, or have a name changed on the roster.
Beginning Medical Transition
Medical transition is exactly what it sounds like. It involves hormone replacement therapy and surgeries.
This step comes after a substantial period of social transition. Typically your child must show that they are happy living as their new gender before beginning any type of medical transition.
Depending on your child's age, they may be a candidate for puberty blockers, these are medications that pause the body from going through a puberty that could be traumatic for a trans child. Blockers can be used until your child is ready to begin cross-sex hormones. This is beneficial as blockers keep a child from getting some of the irreversible aspects of puberty (breast growth in natal females/voice drop in natal males). Blockers can be difficult to access and can be pretty pricey.
HRT, hormone replacement therapy can be done with or without being on blockers. HRT is the process of taking cross-sex hormones (Testosterone for trans men. Testosterone blockers, estrogen, and progesterone for trans women). HRT for minors is accomplished through endocrinologists, mental health clinicians, and other physicians, and require consent from both parents, and usually a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Hormones are a vast topic that we will cover more under the FTM and MTF pages.
Surgery
Surgery is often the last step in transition. When it comes to what surgeries are available, there is more information on the MTF and FTM pages. When looking into gender affirming surgeries, there are a few steps to be aware of, especially if you are looking into surgery for your child before they are an adult. The first surgery that trans men undergo is a mastectomy, trans women can get breast implants. Trans women have more surgical opportunities as well; most trans women undergo FFS (Facial Feminization Surgery). While trans men can get facial masculinization, it is far less common. Trans women also have better results and options for bottom surgery, as such more trans women get bottom surgery than trans men do. But at a large scale, many, if not most, trans people never pursue bottom surgery. With a trans child bottom surgery is not something that is on the table, many surgeons won't even perform top surgery on minors.There are also body sculpting procedures for both trans men and women, using liposuction the surgeon will contour your body into a more feminine/masculine shape. This surgery is not as common as top surgery. Depending on your insurance plan, you can get coverage on gender affirming surgeries. When I got my top surgery, for insurance approval we needed at least one mental health clinician that had already been working with me, and one medical doctor to confirm that I had gender dysphoria, was in a safe physical and mental state, understood what would be happening, and would be able to handle a surgery. Surgery is scary, I know, but when I say minors getting surgery, I'm speaking of people that are almost 18, and have been out for years. If your child just came out, surgery is not something you need to worry about right now.
