Hi, I'm Alex and I'm a trans man living in the UK. I'm asking for your help to make sure I can maintain access to my HRT for the next few months, which is absolutely vital and critical to my life and health.

Some important context:

As some of you may know, the system for trans healthcare in the UK is extremely difficult to navigate, with some NHS waitlists for a first GIC appointment now decades long.

Currently the only options available for trans people living in the UK are:

a) wait for a decade or more on the NHS for a first appointment, just to discuss the possibility of going on HRT (and you still might not actually get on it until years after that)

b) pay hundreds of pounds to private clinics, which require you to undergo psychiatric assessments for gender dysphoria, and if you are 'diagnosed' you either have to pay for private HRT prescriptions indefinitely, or if you are lucky you might find a GP who is amenable to entering into a shared care agreement with the private provider and you can get your prescriptions on the NHS

c) do DIY HRT (i.e. get hormones from the internet or from friends)

As you can imagine, the trans community is suffering enormously from this state of affairs, on top of all the other innumerable horrors we are being subjected to worldwide by an increasing tidal wave of political factions and governments who want to repeal our rights.

My own situation:

I came out as a trans man in 2020 at the age of 28. Due to the intolerable NHS waitlists, I made the decision to access gender-affirming care through a private source back in 2021. After jumping through all the necessary hoops and undergoing 3 detailed psychiatric and medical assessments (which cost me around £1500 in total) and changing GP around 3 times, in 2022 I was finally lucky enough to establish a shared care agreement between my private gender clinic and my NHS GP! Enormous costs notwithstanding, against all the odds I had managed to navigate a system that was established to make it as difficult for people to transition as possible! I picked up my first prescription of testosterone from the pharmacy in July 2022, having paid around £9 for it, and was overjoyed to be starting this important new chapter of my life.

For 2 whole years after that, this was a normal part of my monthly routine. I was able to get regular repeat prescriptions of my HRT with no issues and paid the standard price for NHS prescriptions.

Sadly this all got disrupted in 2024 when my GP suddenly disappeared unexpectedly. Since then I have been unable to find another GP who's willing to enter into a shared care agreement with a private gender clinic. Despite having dutifully complied with the system, being able to evidence the fact that I had been formally 'diagnosed' with gender dysphoria (I use quotation marks here because I fundamentally disagree with this model of trans healthcare) and having an established history of being safely monitored on hormone replacement therapy, I have been unable to find a GP that's willing to reissue the prescription I'd been getting continuously for 2 years.

Sadly this is not an uncommon experience for trans people in the UK. Even when we jump through all the required hoops and fulfill the absurdly narrow criteria that is laid out for us, there is still a widespread trend of refusal among GPs to support trans patients with any aspect of their care. It doesn't seem to make any difference if said patients have a long-term well-established history of being on HRT. What this means is that many trans people are being abruptly cut off from the medication they need, often at vast detriment to their health. All it takes is an understanding trans-inclusive GP to suddenly disappear, which is what happened to me.

I have been left in a position I never wanted to be in and I hate that I'm having to fundraise for medication I should be able get issued on the NHS for £9.90 a month.

Because of this situation my transition progress has suffered, along with my mental and physical health. I sadly lost access to my hormones for a couple of months earlier this year. This had a terrible impact on me as I had been stable on my HRT for nearly 3 years. The sudden drop in testosterone levels wreaked havoc on my body. I developed severe anemia and experienced a flare up of a chronic illness, the symptoms of which had mysteriously improved in the time I had been on testosterone.

Luckily I was able to access care and resume HRT again via a private gender clinic, again at no small personal cost. Due to issues with finding a supportive GP, since March this year I have had to rely on private prescriptions for my HRT, which are extremely expensive (each bottle of Testogel costs around £70). For someone who is in low-waged employment, this is a very significant chunk of my income. Due to the huge financial burden this places on me, I often feel compelled to ration my HRT. I try to keep my testosterone dosages low, so as to make each bottle last longer and thetefore avoid having to continually pay for more. However this inevitably leads to my mental health suffering due to my dose being lower than what is optimal for me.

I am the type of person who hates asking for help, particularly when it comes to finances. Despite knowing full well that none of this is my fault, I still feel intense shame over even putting this fundraiser up. But in this instance I have little choice in the matter. My HRT is a non-negotiable. I need it in order to live and function in the world.

While this fundraiser would assist in the short term, my ultimate goal is to resume my care on the NHS. And thankfully, THERE IS HOPE!

I am on the waitlist for an NHS pilot scheme in London that offers support and medical care (including gender-affirming care) to the trans and non-binary community. I'm on their waitlist and it's likely that they'll be able to offer me an appointment by the end of this year. However in the meantime I'm still reliant on private prescriptions.

If you can spare any £ at all to support me with this, you'll be ensuring that I have enough testosterone to last me for at least the next 3 months. With any luck this will tide me over until I am seen by the NHS. This would obviously remove a huge amount of financial pressure from me. As I've mentioned above, I'm in low-waged employment (despite trying very hard to find jobs with better pay) and am also on Universal Credit, which is part of why I am in such a difficult position.

If you've got all the way to the end of this, thanks for reading! Even if you don't donate, I still appreciate you for taking the time to understand my situation.

Also if you're reading this and you're trans yourself, please consider saving your £ for your own purposes, as I firmly believe that cis people should be stepping up and being the ones to contribute in these instances! :)

Love and solidarity to all

Alex

xxxx