TRANSGENDER patients are risking their lives buying illegal hormone pills online to avoid lengthy NHS waiting lists.

Wendy Philips, 44, recently underwent gender reassignment surgery at a private clinic but resorted to taking oestrogen tablets and testosterone inhibitors bought from India because the waiting list for NHS treatment was too long.

5 Wendey bought hormone tablets online between 2014 and 2016 to avoid NHS waiting lists

The railway worker, from Northampton, appeared on the ITV series Transformation Street, which looks at the lives of people trapped in the wrong body.

It also follows the work of Christopher Inglefield at the London Transgender Surgery clinic who performed Wendy’s gender reassignment.

Speaking about why she bought the drugs finasteride and spironolactone between 2014 and 2016 she said: “These drugs are really not that had to find - I just typed a search into Google.

“As you’re purchasing without a prescription, the pharmacy can guess what the drugs are being used for and can ultimately charge what they like.

5 Wendy, who works for National Rail, warned patients lives are being put at risk due to the two year wait time

“At one point I was paying around £300 per month just for the oestrogen alone.

“But for myself, and for many other people, it’s a necessity if you can’t get hormone therapy prescribed by a GP.

“Obviously there are risks involved and you are taking a big chance. But when people are desperate, this is what happens.”

For Wendy, and many others in her position, the hormone tablets are an essential part of transitioning.

Oestrogen tablets encourage the growth of breast tissue and a higher pitched voice while testosterone inhibitors prevent the growth of facial hair, excessive muscle growth and other male characteristics.

5 Wendy took oestrogen tablets before undergoing a breast augmentation

“You have to have some growth in the breast area in order for a surgeon to be able to carry out a breast augmentation yet it’s a long consultation process to get the hormones legitimately,” Wendy explained.

“And excessive NHS waiting times need to be cut so that people can talk to someone about what they’re going through.

“No-one wants to be a transgender person. We don’t choose this, it isn’t an option.

“It’s something that eats away at you until you either do something about it or, tragically, end your own life.

“If you walk into your GP, you get seen as soon as possible.

“But if you are transgender you're looking at a two to three year wait on the NHS. That’s not acceptable.”

5 Surgeon Christopher Inglefield performed Wendy's gender reassignment surgery

Patients who contact their GP are usually referred to a Gender Identity Clinic where they undergo counselling, hormone treatment and other services needed for their transition.

If a patient wants to have genital reconstructive surgery, they’ll usually first need to live in their preferred gender identity full time for at least a year before being considered.

But there is currently a two year waiting list on the NHS just for an initial consultation.

It was this delay that prompted Wendy, and many others, to buy their hormones illegally online.

Taking hormones requires regular check-ups with a GP to monitor potential health problems including gallstones, hair loss and sleep apnoea.

Taking hormones also increases a patients of potentially deadly blood clots.

Wendy also believes the lengthy waiting times contribute to the number of patient’s committing suicide.

5 Wendy believes the waiting times to have a gender reassignment consultation also result in suicides in transgender patients

About 40 per cent of transgender people have attempted to take their own lives at some point, according to a study by the National Centre for Transgender Equality.

Wendy spent her life savings on the hormone treatment.

“Being in the wrong skin is like having to wear a set of clothes you can never take off,” she said.

“There’s no other way to describe it. I didn’t let anybody close to me, not even my ex-wife.

“If you can’t be intimate at all because you hate your own body then that’s a massive strain on the other person.

“I used to work on the track with gangs of men. I was working as a male but only in my private life I was living as a woman.

“And walking into work when you first present as female was the hardest thing I’ve ever done - the hardest thing through the whole process.

“Transitioning is a major thing. It's not something you do on a whim.

“For me I'm finally at peace with myself. What more could you ask for?”

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Mr Inglefield, a pioneering gender reassignment surgeon in the UK, said he sees many patients who are “lost and desperate”.

“Anyone undergoing gender reassignment is in the middle of a very difficult journey,” he said.

“The operation is just a small part of the journey, and often these people struggle alone, feeling isolated from the rest of society.

“People on the outside need to understand the struggle people in the transgender community face, and hopefully that will create acceptance where there is currently none.”

Transformation Street begins on Thursday on ITV at 9pm.

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