BEFORE THE CHANGE

Not every transgender person wants to change their sex. Some don’t want to lose their job or family. Some cannot afford the surgery. For those who do and want their surgery in the United States, there is a long and rigorous process. It’s based on ethical standards doctors have developed and updated since the 1970s.

The steps include:

They consult with a mental health professional. A person must have a recommendation from a mental health professional in order to get hormones or surgery.

They seek out a medical doctor for hormones. Taking estrogen will increase body fat, breast size and raise the voice. Testosterone makes the voice lower and enhances muscle growth.

They need to live as the gender they want to be for at least a year.

After a year on hormones, people may seek out a surgeon. Not every person wants surgery or can afford it, since it can vary from $5,000 to $50,000, depending on the type of procedure. A woman transitioning into a man may want a mastectomy or a phaloplasty, which is a surgery to build a penis. A man transitioning into a woman might want surgery to feminize the face or Adams apple or change the sex organs.

Recovery can take 6-8 weeks for a man becoming a woman and 4-6 weeks for a woman becoming a man.

In Pennsylvania, a person can have the gender on their driver’s license and birth certificate changed if they have documentation from a surgeon stating that their gender has been irreversibly altered.

FACTS

Number of transgender Americans: No one really knows because no government body or marketing company has surveyed or counted them.

Number of transgender midstate residents: 40 often come to monthly meetings of TransCentral PA. Roughly 300 are expected at the group’s upcoming national conference, which draws people from as far away as the West Coast.

Marital rights: Transgender people have the same marital rights as anybody else. They can marry someone of the opposite sex. In states allowing gay marriage, they can marry someone of their sex. If a couple is married and one or both people transition to the other gender, they can remain married.

Legal rights: The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed last fall means hate crimes include those motivated by a victim’s real or perceived gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. Transgender organizations are working for a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Of all 50 states, Pennsylvania has the most municipalities that have passed antidiscrimination acts that include gender discrimination. One reason is because the state legislature hasn’t. Transgender people working in most of Pennsylvania’s largest cities cannot be fired for being a transgender individual.

Military service: Transgender people are banned from service in the military, but there have been cases where it was tolerated.

Sources: National Center for Transgender Equality, TransCentral PA and The World Professional Association for Transgender Health