I am in the process of getting my gender marker changed and have been thinking about what is required. Here in Texas, there are no hard requirements, because there is no legal procedure to get it done. Clerks in Tarrent county where I live have been instructed not to take petitions for gender marker changes. Therefore I am filing in Dallas county. There they require a letter from the Doctor and one from a Therapist as set by one of the local Judges.
Surgery use to be required, but with the changes required for Social Security which explicitly states surgery is not required, Doctors are now able and willing to write letters saying that we have completed all required medical procedures for gender transition. That letter is now enough to get the job done with a Judge willing to grant the petition.
Still, I have been thinking about what medical procedures might be required. I am on Medicare, so I have to defer to the wisdom of the federal government which states that Orchiectomy Surgery and SRS are optional/cosmetic surgeries. Therefore, there is no surgery required for Gender Dysphoria.
Thus I can say, with a clear conscience, that I have had all required surgeries to complete my gender transition.
I wish the surgeries were covered, but until then, I will happily use what is available to me to achieve my goals.
Love & Light,
Cassie Ellen
Comments
Required Steps?
This is a guess, but probably your doctor/endocrinologist
will require you to at least come in for an exam
after discussion and likely prescribe hormones
I know my endocrinologist is ready to write my
letter, but I've been on hormones now for
almost a year.
Caveat: I am in California
Beth
I have the required letters already
I have been on HRT since May 2011, and am very happy now with the results. Being 52, I did not expect a lot, but I now have a solid A cup, and I think my butt is getting bigger. ~big grin~ Though the biggest change is that I am smiling most of the time now.
So I have a letter from my gender therapist stating that I have been on hormones living as female for over a year and am now ready to complete the legal part of my transition. The letter from my Dr simply follows the required letter for Social Security. See this page for more information.
I'm really excited about it all!
Bright Blessings,
Cassie Ellen
Inconsistency seems to be the watchword in the US.
At least it's better then the wrong kind of consistency, and often lets you make an end run around requirements. Note, that goes for quite a lot of other things too not just gender markers, quite a lot of other things!
Good Luck,
~Hypatia >i< ..:::
Inconsistancies are fun!
I love playing with the rules and seeing where they fail. Years ago, I was a parlimentarian for the clubs I belonged to just for that reason. Nowadays, I just ponder legal issues and such. I like to try and guess what the next challenging court cases are going to be.
Today my partner was told that she has a court date for her gender marker change. That means mine is probably close behind since we filed our fingerprints at the same time. (They will not make changes if it is to hide illegal activity.) So I'm getting antsy waiting for it. I'm so not good at waiting.
Bright Blessings,
Cassie Ellen
as to medicare covering
that decision was made in 1981, and they are now admitting it was NOT a valid ruling. they are in the process, by court, of getting it reconsidered if not covered. I assume someone has filed a lawsuit, i read an article just the other day on it.
if i can find the link i will send it to you so you can see what is involved, pretty lengthy and bureaucratic legalese, so pretty dry and very good to get to sleep by lol
Terri
Teresa L.
I would love to see the article
I suspect that eventually SRS will be covered by medicare. Though I hope that I will be able to break through my anxiety get back to work before then. I am still having trouble getting out by myself unless I really need to for an appointment or something similar. It is so frustrating at times. I have the root problem mostly fixed, but working through 30 years of anxiety and PTSD is taking forever. Fortunately, my partner is showing me that I can love and trust and still be safe, and that is making all the difference.
Bright Blessings,
Cassie Ellen
Probably nothing this year
I hoped that I would be able to get the court order for my name change and gender marker change this year, but nothing so far. It seems there is some weird hold-up with my fingerprints. The court already has received the notice I do not have any criminal charges against me. If we do not hear back by Monday next week, it will be next year.