Testosterone for Tom

Hello there, Internet. I'm not great at videos, so I'll keep this short.

I'm a trans man from the UK and I'd like to start testosterone as part of my transition. I've been trying to get this on the NHS for about 9 months. Because of a string of mistakes and incompetence, it'll be at least another year until I can get testosterone on the NHS.

I can't cope in the meantime. I've lived without it for too long, and I'm getting desperate.

I don't agree with private healthcare, but when it's a life-or-death decision, I'm suddenly a bit less principled.

Starting testosterone privately costs an average of £400. I already have £200 from donations and savings, so I only need to raise a further £200. I'm a student and I'm disabled. I'm looking for a job, but it's hard to get a job when you're not read as your actual gender. This is where you come in. I hate relying on charity, and I don't want anyone to donate if it's not within their means. But if any of you could spare anything, I'd be really grateful.

Thankyou very much.

What does £200 buy?

An initial appointment with Dr Lorimer costs £200. After that, a follow-up appointment will cost £110. A minimum of 2 appointments are required to start testosterone, and since I don't need any counselling or therapy, I'm hoping that I'll only need 2 appointments.

After that, I'll need to have blood tests done. I've already had these done on the NHS, but given how inept the NHS can be, and the potential cost of processing the blood tests, this makes up the anticipated extra £90. The £400 is only an estimate, but it tends to cost this much.

What will happen to any extra money?

Any extra money raised over the £200 will be used to pay for the testosterone prescription once I have it. Should I end up with any more left over, it'll form the beginnings of a chest surgery fund.

How come you can't get it on the NHS?

It was unsafe for me to come out when living at home, so although I've known for a very long time that I need to transition, I couldn't go to a doctor about it until I left home. 

I initially saw a psychiatrist through university in September 2011, and was told that I'd been referred to Charing Cross for NHS care following this. Despite assurances from my GP, it became clear in April 2012 that I hadn't been referred, even though I'd been told repeatedly that I had. Furthermore, the initial psychiatric assessment is invalid because I had it through university and not through a community mental health team. 

I now have to wait approximately three months for an assessment with a community mental health team. After that, there's a projected wait of six months for a Charing Cross appointment, and then a further wait of approximately 4 months for a second Charing Cross appointment, adding up to over a year before I could get testosterone on the NHS.

I can't cope that long. I'm mentally stable and taking antidepressants, but gender dysphoria causes me significant emotional problems, and hinders my life in many ways. 

What are you doing to raise money yourself?

I'm a disabled student living in central London, and I already live on a very tight budget. Employment during term time is difficult for me, because any energy I do have goes into completing my course. I've been cutting my budget even more than usual, and participating in paid psychological experiments to raise some money. I'm also job-hunting for this summer.

I wish that I had the means to fund my transition myself, given that I can't access it for free. I don't want to rely on charity, and I know that many of my friends are in similarly dire financial situations, and can't afford to fund me any more than I can. But I can't afford to transition without financial help from others, and I've had to reconcile myself to that.

I can't afford to donate. How else can I help?

If you could share the link to this site widely on social media, I would appreciate this an awful lot.