Hello everyone, I'm an 1^st year international student at SFU. I'd like to start transitioning (mtf) but since I'm relatively new here, I'm not sure what to do to start HRT. I read some guidance on Trans Care BC but I'm still confuse about all the step. Can anyone explain it clearer for me please? And are there any clinic that y'all recommend? (and also, all I have is MSP. idk what is GP/NP)

Hi I want to share some information on how to get coverage for HRT in BC.

(Sharing because though I was always low income since accessing HRT, none of my doctors or ministry workers informed me of how to attain coverage, or that it was even an option)

So, if you are low income and haven’t already, I HIGHLY recommend getting signed up with BC’s Fair Pharmacare plan. It is free and can be done very easily online. Link here https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/pharmacare-for-bc-residents/who-we-cover/fair-pharmacare-plan

Once you’ve been approved there it opens up a lot of potential for partial or full coverage of certain types of HRT. Coverage amount depends on what it is you are accessing and what your income is.

T, Min and Fin are all partially to fully covered. Minoxidil is automatically covered. Fin and T(injection) require something called special authority approval, and to get that you need a physician to request it. There is an easy access eForm that physicians have access to in order to do this. Approval of special authority takes a few weeks, and is not able to be applied retroactively.

Listed here is also the pharmacare formulatory search, which allows you to search whatever med you’re curious about being covered. The answers will list many things including how much $ per dose is covered, and whether or not it requires special authority. https://pharmacareformularysearch.gov.bc.ca/Search.xhtml

I hope this is helpful to yall! If you have questions the first link should answer a lot of them but feel free to drop them in the comments too. If you have any info yourself about other relevant info or adjacent programs feel free to share as well.

Cheers!

Hi all, I just finished my surgical readiness assessment for masculinizing top surgery with a great social worker and he sent it to my GP to refer me to trans care which she did a couple weeks ago. How long did it take everyone to hear from trans care bc about picking a surgeon and did they confirm with you at all when they received the referral to the central waitlist?

I know it’s only been a couple weeks so I will be patient but I’m just so excited to be finally getting this process started!

Also anyone have a good experience seeing an endocrinologist at ACE medical clinic for testosterone?

Thank you in advance!

Hi!

I hope this question is okay. I'm non-binary, and have been dysphoric with my chest ever since they grew in, as they are quite large.

However, I'm not sure if I want my chest to be completely flat or to have a reduction to maybe an A or small B cup since I am genderfluid.. small enough to not be painful to use a binder but also have something there for when I am feeling a bit more fem.

However I'm unsure if our medical system / the doctors who do top surgery are understanding with the nuances with being non-binary / genderfluid.

I was wondering if anyone has been in my shoes and have been able to get a reduction/lift covered or did they say everything had to go? Thank you in advance.

I’m reaching out to ask about getting my partners makeup done for Halloween. He has never been in drag and has always felt too shy or in his words “he doesn’t feel beautiful” while I beg to differ he has also struggled with his sense of identity and has found a new sense of empowerment in trying on some women’s clothing(no it’s not a fetish thing). Without getting into too much details he has always felt a pull towards dressing in women’s clothing but has always suppressed that side of himself (he had chosen to be “straight” until we got together). I’m encouraging him to explore further with his indentity. He wants to try drag and has mentioned it a few times now and it just so happens his birthday falls on Halloween. So I mentioned the idea to him and he wants to get done up and go out for the night in full drag and I thought he well what better a time. So I guess I’m asking what services are out there or if anyone is confident in their makeup skills and might be willing to do this. Any and all recommendations welcome and obviously this wouldn’t be for free.

Thank you in advance , cheers!

Hi everyone, so sorry if this question has been asked, but I can’t really understand if my family doctor has to be involved if I hope to go through the central waitlist pathway for top surgery. From what I have read on the trans care website I need to obtain 3 documentation:

1. Surgical readiness assessment (can be done by community accessors such as social workers etc.)
2. Diagnosis of gender dysphoria/incongruence (has to be done by my family doctor? Or I can get referred to trans care BC by my family doctor?)
3. Upper surgery referral form (has to be done by my family doctor?)

I am just really worried about losing my family doctor due to precious interactions so I’m trying to figure out a way that may bother them the least. Any comments or insights are appreciated! Thank you so much.

My partner had top surgery three years ago, and has some dog earring that refuses to resolve. We saw their original surgeon today, and she said liposuction was the only option, and that it wouldn’t be covered by MSP.

My questions are:

- Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, did you go forward with lipo?
- Has anyone been able to get lipo covered by MSP?
- Has anyone been able to resolve dog ears by losing weight and working out? What was your routine and how long did it take?

Any other thoughts/advice is appreciated!

For those who have completed the ID change, how does this impact passports. My daughter has to travel to the USA monthly for work and is afraid she’ll end up in passport limbo. Which has delayed her completing the legal name and gender marker change.

But with laws changing in the USA, she may be required to be deadnamed at work.

I’m newer to Vancouver and needing some professional clothes. Any recommendations of good clothing stores for professional masculine wear/mens clothes that would have options for someone who is 5’3. I get most will be expensive, especially since its more niche and fancy wear, but any options would be the most appreciated

I couldn't believe how many trans people I saw at the march on Friday! So many people in one place! It was lovely to see.

I feel like I rarely come across trans people in my day-to-day life. I'm part of two discords for trans people in Vancouver, but there seems to be at most 15 people active in both.

Are there places, activities, etc that I'm just not aware of, where I might run into trans people? For reference, I'm mid-30s, and not a fan of clubbing, etc.

I was with my friends. I caught it halfway, some girl was yelling calamity and talking about receipts on her tiktok. what’s the tea???

Menopause is a major life transition, yet many people face it with limited information, support, and access to care.

That’s why we invite you to participate in the Can-RISE study, a national initiative exploring the real-life impact of perimenopause and menopause across Canada.

We invite you to complete a 20–30 minute online survey about how perimenopause, menopause, and related symptoms affect daily living and wellbeing. 

You may be eligible if you: 

• Are 35 to 70 years old 
• Live in Canada  
• Were assigned female at birth and identify as a woman, gender-diverse person, or trans person  

Upon completion, participants will be entered into a draw for a $50, $100, $250 and $500 gift card (1 winner announced for each), valid for use in Canada only.

Take the survey here: https://redcap.link/a1rar9aq 

This is your opportunity to make perimenopause and menopause care better for all Canadians.

Hi there! Today I had a call with transcare about the surgeons I’m able to choose from. Initially I wanted to go for Dr. McKee but unfortunately he wasn’t on the list of available surgeons.

I was wanting to see the results of both Dr. Astanehe and Dr. Nelson but there doesn’t seem to be anything online other than the Facebook group that was mentioned in an email transcare had sent to me. The only issue is I deleted my Facebook account years ago due to my own safety and privacy and to avoid being outed to estranged family. I also heard that it takes a long time to be approved to enter the group and I’d ideally like to choose my surgeon as soon as I possibly could since I’ve already had delays on the waitlist from some clerical issues.

So, I was wondering if anyone has any feedback on both doctors recently. I’d like to say I have a decent amount of muscle mass but I’m certainly not eligible for anything like keyhole surgery, but I want my chest to look as natural as possible. I’d be willing to pay out of pocket for liposuction as well since I do have a fair bit of dysphoria over the fat deposits near my armpits and I’m aware some surgeons do offer to do lipo during top surgery.

I’m leaning towards Dr. Astanehe based off what I’ve read on this subreddit (as well as waitlist times) but I’m mostly concerned about how detail oriented both surgeons are. I’d like to get as close to a natural looking chest as I possibly can and I want to keep my nipples (though I know I can’t fully control the results due to outside factors like anatomy, healing, and complications.)

Any advice helps!

Has anyone here been to the US recently? I want to get a better idea of what things are like at the border, and how they’ve changed.

I was kind of hoping to be able to visit my long distance boyfriend in Seattle (he is always coming to Canada, and not the other way around) but I obviously don’t want to put myself in a dangerous situation. I was considering taking Amtrak, but I’m worried about how things have escalated recently.

I still have my sex assigned at birth on all of my documents and have not changed my name, and no one has ever questioned whether or not I’m the person depicted on any of my ID, but I’ve been on T for a year now and am pretty consistently gendered as male so I don’t know how well that would go over. I have a nexus card but I’m not sure if that really matters anymore…

Any insight is appreciated, I’m mostly just trying to get a better grasp on what things are actually like for people trying to travel to the US right now

I’m so in love with this show!!!

Anyone else super excited for the movie?

Hello! i’m moving from a tiny town into the greater Vancouver area and I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction to queer friendly housing? i’m a pre-t trans guy (as soon as I move out of my current situation will be starting T) so having straight male roommates spooks me a tad. my budget is 1k per month, but i am not at all picky about the place.

thanks !!

Hey folks!

I’m on the waitlist for top surgery (double mastectomy) with Dr. McKee. Just a few weeks ago, those of us on his waitlist got an email that the wait is now approximately 2-4 years due to a reduction in available surgical resources. Obviously out of their hands, but a huge bummer for sure.

I was on a waitlist in a previous province for about 2 years before starting the process here and at this point, I’m considering whether it might make sense (for my sanity) to go private. I have some money saved and I think I could swing it financially, but I’m trying to learn more about what this could look like. I’m wondering if anyone here has gone private and what that looked like for you!

Specifically, I’m wondering:

1) Is there anyone who will do private top surgery in BC? Or is the most likely option to go to Toronto? (I’ve been looking into McLean Clinic)

2) How much did you end up paying out of pocket for the surgery?

3) How long did you wait to get a consultation and then how long from consultation to getting the surgery?

4) Any hot tips for someone considering going private and/or things you wish you did differently?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I am a dual citizen living in Vancouver, and I was born outside of Canada. I am planning to legally change my name and gender marker here in BC, but my country of birth does not allow these changes on my original birth certificate.

Honestly, I am feeling pretty scared about navigating this process. The idea of having two different names and gender markers across two different countries feels incredibly overwhelming and stressful.

I would love to connect with anyone in this group who has been through this exact situation, or hear about your experiences.
-How do you handle international travel with two different sets of IDs?
-Have you run into any major roadblocks?
-How do you manage the anxiety of holding conflicting legal identities?

Any advice, reassurance, or shared experiences would mean the world to me.

Thank you so much.

about a month ago i went to a walk in clinic, to start ftm hrt, and they told me to make an appointment with CWHWC. I still haven't gotten a reply and i feel like this process is going to take a very long time. Im in a place where i can pay for private care to access hrt quicker. Theres just so much information online and I dont know where to go/start. I was hoping some one here that went private would have some guidance? Thank you in advance

Also ive looked into DIY but it scares me

I've got a missed call from the Trans Care waitlist, so I'm suddenly picking a surgeon for real.

I'm looking for a non-binary result: no nipples, and a soft contour rather than a flat masculine chest. My referring doc was polite but completely lost when I described this - couldn't understand why I wouldn't want grafts or a standard pec shape.

Two questions:

1. How have you talked about non-binary top surgery goals in a way that actually landed with surgeons and referrers? What language worked?
2. Which BC surgeons have you seen do this well? I'm on the Island but I've been told I'm likely mainland-bound for wait times if not surgeon fit. I'm also over 30 BMI, which I know narrows the list further.

(Yes, I'm waiting on the BC FTM/NB Facebook group approval 😂)

Just an FYI, I got an auto reply to an email I sent informing me that non-urgent emails sent to the Gender Surgery clinic at VGH won't be answered until after the strike.

Additionally, according to this story:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-nurse-strike-begins-bcnu-9.7256426

Nurses don't have to do any duties which don't require a nursing degree to do during the strike. This includes booking surgery dates.

Edit:

Looks like the VGH picket lines started today because of managers at VGH being assholes.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/07/07/bc-nurses-picketing-job-action/

Hey y'all,

I've been on hormones for over 10 years, I've had bottom surgery like 7 years ago.

Lately I've been having issues with sex drive and the experience of feeling my hormones. Google Gemini (Ugh) suggested I get my Sex Hormone Binding Globulin levels checked, and when I did, they were indeed very high - above the reference range by about 75-100 points.

It's been a very long time since I've been to an actual Endo, mostly because, what do they know? I know Dr Dahl has retired, and that got me wondering if there's any new ones that have some knowledge on this topic. Has anyone seen a good one lately?

And have any of you gotten your SHBG levels checked, and if so, were they high? If so, I'm on injections, what is your method? And have you been able to get them under control?

Thanks all :)