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Strong was referred to an endocrinologist who Strong said wasn’t familiar with the needs of transgender patients. “I felt a bit like a guinea pig.” Strong said the endocrinologist wasn’t sure how the hormones would affect her. She saw a doctor at Klinic Community Health Centre. “I’m going, ‘OK, you know what you’re talking about! Thank you. I’m now comfortable. Really comfortable with what’s going on with my body’."
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Strong began using spray estrogen. “I had acne, pimples all the time. I had rosacea on my face, which I was using cream for. I was constantly having ingrown hairs from shaving my legs and stuff like that. As soon as I started taking estrogen, it all went away.”
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Shandi Strong says coming out has been a lifelong process. When she was a young boy she felt she wanted to be a girl but was criticized by her peers when she would act that way. So she tried her best to be a boy.
May 2009 Shandi, 49, came out as transgender to her employer of 15 years. She was fired that week. -
Strong went to Klinic to receive hormones.
“Dr. Whetter was just really amazing—sensitive, understanding, he asked all of the right questions, just somebody you felt comfortable with because he knew what he was doing.” -
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Mills came out to himself as transgender in March 2011.
“That’s when I knew I needed to take steps towards finding out more information about trans, being transgender and what that looks like even,” Mills said. -
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Mills, 24, contacted Klinic Community Health Centre to learn more about his options and was put on a waiting list.
"I was probably like number 25 and they could give me no estimate for how long it would take to get in and your expectation was to wait. So that was not fun,” said Mills. -
"No Longer Pre-T"
Mills injected his first shot of testosterone into his body today. “Before I was ever given my own prescription of testosterone I did go to a friend and use his testosterone,” Mills said. “I trusted this friend and went about it in a way that I was comfortable with,” he said. Since then his transition from female to male has moved relatively quickly. -
Mills was able to go back to his doctor and tell her that he’d started taking testosterone without her input, reducing the doctor’s liability and prompting her to prescribe Mills his own. “It sped up the process real fast,” said Mills though he would not recommend that process to anyone.
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After being on a waiting list for five months, Mills finally had an appointment with a psychologist at Klinic. “It took only one visit for her to write me a letter saying that I identify as male, that I have gender identity disorder, and that I qualify for surgery,” he said. “I didn’t have to pay for that appointment, I got the letter and I was given a referral to a surgeon locally. But getting in took forever.”
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Strong received bottom surgery in Montreal and it was covered by Manitoba Health. She paid for airfare and was reimbursed. Finding out that she wouldn’t have to pay for surgery was a huge relief. “It relieved so much stress from my life.”
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Strong officially changed her gender on her birth certificate in February 2012.
She then changed the gender marker on her driver’s license. “[It] was very straightforward. As long as I had a letter saying ‘hey, I’m going for some surgery, they were happy to put the ‘F’ on there. I’ve heard of other people having more issues with that.” She also changed the gender marker on her Manitoba Health Card and her passport. -
Barbosa came out to himself as transgender in July 2012. “Thinking that maybe I’m not actually who I thought I was for the past ‘x’ amount of years was scary because, that’s always scary,” Barbosa said.
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Mills decided he wanted top surgery: “It’s the most important part, I think, of the transition because it changes everything,” Mills said. Mills was referred to a surgeon who had performed top surgeries in the past but only days before Mills’ consultation decided to stop. Another Manitoban surgeon offered their services to Mills and he went to one consultation and left angry and disappointed. The surgeon had only ever performed double mastectomies.
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Barbosa came out as transgender to his doctor and asked for help, but the more Barbosa went, the more problems began to arise. “It felt like he didn’t fully believe that I was fully trans and that he thought I might be gender queer—somewhere in the middle, not quite sure where I fit in,” Barbosa said. Barbosa's doctor had him look in a mirror, ‘What do you see when you look at yourself?’ Barbosa said his doctor asked him.
His doctor prompted him to respond by saying "a pretty girl." -
Barbosa spoke to his doctor about getting top surgery and got an unexpected response. Barbosa claims the doctor called top surgery mutilation. “He had called it mutilation because it might not necessarily be something that I need in my life. But for me personally, and I had told him this, it is something that I want. It’s something that will make me more comfortable with my body," Barbosa said.
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Mills documents the reveal
Mills got on a plane and flew to Florida to receive top surgery. In order to finance the operation Mills had to take out a $6,000 loan. Mills says his results are consistent and the doctor was very well trained.“He’s providing a service that should be covered and it is improving health,” said Mills. -
Barbosa, 19, contacts Klinic Community Health Centre because he wanted to see the psychologist. There was a six month waiting list.
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Barbosa started seeing a new family doctor who prescribed him hormones. Barbosa said the process was easier than he'd expected. “At the bare minimum you should have your hormone levels checked to see if they’re higher than normal because you don’t want to start with a really high dose and then your hormone levels will go out of whack.”
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He got the testosterone from his family doctor. He was nervous and wasn’t able to inject the testosterone himself. Barbosa’s doctor injects his hormones for him every three months. He says it’s getting easier each time.
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Barbosa said Vital Statistics was very accomodating. “The lady I guess had had other trans people so she was knowledgeable, she wasn’t like, ‘oh, this is weird,’” he said. Barbosa had to pay $130.88 to change his name legally. He’ll have to pay Vital Statistics again when he changes the gender marker on his birth certificate.
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On this date Barbosa spoke to a psychologist at Klinic and was diagnosed with gender identity disorder. Barbosa also talked to a doctor at Klinic Community Health Centre about getting a top surgery. He is considering a hysterectomy and bottom surgery (metoidioplasty).
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Mills is going through the process of changing his gender marker on his birth certificate. He needs it in order to change his passport and feel safe while travelling but the process has been trying. “It feels very accusatory. They’re so concerned about what? Like a terrorist changing their gender? What the are they worried about, but they’re worried about something,” Mills said.
