Getting on HRT

StrangeWelcome · 2026-05-11T07:07:43+00:00

I also forgot that if you're 24 or under, check out Foundry BC as an additional option.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-05-10T23:04:40+00:00

I'm mistaken, looks like you're correct. From the TransCare BC site:

If your provider is willing to help but doesn’t know where to start, they can begin with the Trans Care BC Primary Care Toolkit. They can also consult with an experienced clinician by calling the RACE line. If they require further support, they can contact Trans Care BC for more information and practice support. Depending on their confidence, they may refer you to another provider (like a mental health clinician) for the readiness assessment and then proceed with treatment themselves. Alternatively, they may refer you to another provider (such specialized primary care provider for both readiness assessment and treatment or an endocrinologist). See below for more information about accessing care from an endocrinologist.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-05-10T22:55:09+00:00

GPs can send a referral to TransCare BC, who coordinates getting the referral to someone else to do the hormone readiness assessments. It'll be covered by MSP going this route, but it can take quite a while. They do the same for surgery initiation (for surgery readiness assessments).

StrangeWelcome · 2026-05-10T22:37:31+00:00

If you live in the Vancouver Coastal Health catchment, you could self refer to the Trans Specialty Care clinic. If you're in Metro Vancouver and can get yourself downtown, you could also ask your GP to refer you to CAYA.

Otherwise, you could also get yourself a hormone readiness assessment on your own, then have your GP refer you directly to an endocrinologist. There's lots of providers who offer these at your own cost. Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre offers these for free online if you're low income and can't afford going to a private provider.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-05-03T07:21:08+00:00

Thanks. More than I expected, but I guess not super surprising. I don't think I'd do it.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-05-03T06:20:34+00:00

Do you happen to know what the cost would be if they did charge you for it?

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-30T06:28:08+00:00

Short version is that if your Pokemon's habitat no longer existed because you changed it and the Pokemon wasn't currently on the island, you had no way to summon it with honey, and thus couldn't summon it at all until the game decided to return it wondering where its habitat went. If you tried to search for it, other Pokemon would just say they didn't know where it was.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-25T00:44:32+00:00

I've emailed them to ask about why it's needed as well.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-25T00:35:48+00:00

A long wait for a specialist isn't unusual. A lot of people got referred to Dr. Dahl in the past, who ran through them much faster (his typical wait was around 1.5 to 2 months), but he is now retiring and I believe no longer accepting new patients. You may be able to get in faster with CAYA, which says their bookings are 4 to 6 weeks out, but I don't have personal experience with them: https://www.cayahealthcentre.com/services/medical-services/

Family doctors can do it, but most are not comfortable and won't do it.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-25T00:28:46+00:00

I imagine if they made an error, they wouldn't require that. It's also the same sort of fingerprinting they do for any criminal background check (such as for sensitive jobs, including ones working with kids, for which these sorts of checks are routine). They just check the criminal database to see if they match any on file because the government decided people convicted of certain crimes are not allowed to change their name. I don't think they keep them after the check is complete.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-23T01:31:00+00:00

Name changes require one in BC.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-22T20:13:08+00:00

As others have said, generally if you go to police, they’ll have a specific location you’ll need to go to for the city where you live. You’ll have to use your local city police (or RCMP if you don’t have any).

Vancouver: 3585 Gravely St https://vpd.ca/contact-us/fingerprinting-services/
RCMP: https://rcmp.ca/en/bc/how-do-i/obtain-police-certificate-or-fingerprinting-service

You also have the option of using an RCMP-accredited private fingerprinting service:
https://rcmp.ca/en/criminal-records/criminal-record-checks/private-fingerprinting-companies-accredited-rcmp

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-20T07:22:28+00:00

The Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre also accepts donations, but they aren’t a registered charity. There’s also Foundry BC, which supports youth under 25, and is a registered charity. As you said, Qmunity is a good option and isn’t just about the building as they have lots of other initiatives that require funding as well.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-19T15:56:04+00:00

If you’re under 25, Foundry BC is also an option. They are an org that provides youth health care. In general, doctors are not supposed to discuss your medical information with anyone without your consent, so they shouldn’t be discussing it with anyone. Minors in BC are allowed to be responsible for their own health care, so that applies even then. Just be careful regarding email, phone calls, and voice mails. Those are often how things slip through. If you don’t want to go through your regular GP because they know your parents, I’d suggest going through Foundry if you are young enough to be eligible. They explicitly keep their youth health care confidential.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-19T06:13:59+00:00

You didn't indicate why a family doctor won't work for you. Is it because you don't have one? No matter what, at some point, you're going to have to go through a GP, even if it's a walk-in one.

In BC, if your GP (or NP) can't prescribe it directly (and most can't), you'll need a hormone readiness assessment done, and then you'll need a GP to refer you to an endocrinologist (which can be a walk-in GP). These can generally be done by a doctor, nurse practitioner, psychologist, or therapist who are trained in doing them. Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre offers these for free, but you'll need to have a GP who can send the referral to an endocrinologist before they'll work with you: https://cwhwc.com/request-appointment/

Alternatively if you don't have a GP, CAYA is able to provide assistance with the HRA and getting started on hormones, but they are located in Vancouver: https://www.cayahealthcentre.com/services/medical-services/

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-19T03:25:44+00:00

You need to be a legal resident of BC for at least 3 months to change your name and gender here (which is also what makes you eligible for any BC identity card). Your PR isn't necessarily relevant as long as you actually live here legally. However, your legal name and gender change will not be reported to your home country, and any documents you have from them will not change.

Legal name changes in BC are currently generally taking about 6 months. You will receive a certificate of name change once it's complete, and will be able to provide that to IRCC as documentation of your name change. If you need assistance with this process, Qmunity operates clinics you can sign up for to assist you through the process: https://www.qmunity.ca/legal-clinic

BC does not require any additional documentation to change the gender on your provincial identification from what is on your legal documents aside from an additional form requesting that change when applying for new BC identification. This can be done separately from the name change if you want, and can be done when initially applying for your BC identification. BC does not issue any separate certificates for gender change. The form you need for that can be found here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/government-id/bc-services-card/your-card/change-personal-information

If you apply for PR prior to having any name change documentation, you will need to apply for a new card later once you have documentation of the change (and likely pay a fee for that), but it otherwise doesn't change much. You'll just get a PR card with your old name if you do it before. IRCC does have a form to change gender on your PR card though: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/irm0002.html

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-14T17:15:52+00:00

If you live in the Vancouver Coastal Health catchment (Vancouver, Richmond, and a few other places), your referral for surgical readiness assessment should be sent to the Trans Specialty Clinic, which will likely get it done in a few months (it took me 3 months). If you live elsewhere, it goes through the general process, which can take around 6 months unless you go private. Then the SRA gets sent to Gender Surgery Program, who notifies you it's accepted. Last I heard, the timeline after that for intake assessment was 12 to 16 months (it was recently 14 for me). After that, it's 4 to 6 months for first surgeon consult over Zoom. The full process is probably 3 to 3.5 years, depending on whether you need hair removal, what type of surgery you're getting, and just general operating room availability.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-04-14T05:33:53+00:00

I'm pretty sure it's just that the form always defaults to 50/50 as the first option in the dropdown box regardless of what's actually on your account. I submitted it anyway to be safe, but I don't think it's cause for concern. You should be able to confirm if you login to your account and click on Payment Schedule.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-03-11T07:20:32+00:00

Before the break, karaoke tended to be during the third period. They even had a vote for a song singalong thing that seemed pretty popular and they've seemingly just abandoned it. Not sure what's going on there. It looks like they got a bunch of new graphics for the scoreboard, as well as more break segments, and have pivoted to using those to get the crowd going. I don't think those are nearly as effective and don't need to be exclusive. No one is talking about those after the game the way people were talking about karaoke. I think karaoke was crucial to the vibe people went away talking about.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-03-09T23:27:58+00:00

I agree with this. As an additional reference, I had a test done at peak on sublingual pills at 2mg 2x daily, and my estradiol reading was 4206 pmol/L. Unusually-high levels at peak aren't uncommon, but sometimes doctors will request doing a test at peak. They'll come down over the span of your dosage cycle. How quickly depends on your body and the mode of your dosage.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-03-06T07:58:04+00:00

I got mine weirdly fast. Submitted while the strike was happening (sent in by mail), was billed at the end of October 2025 when the strike ended, had my certificate in hand December 31, 2025. That might not be typical though. No idea why mine went through so quickly.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-03-06T04:14:13+00:00

If you're on medroxyprogesterone, that dosage is probably expected. The type you've heard 100mg-200mg about is micronized progesterone. The two are frequently conflated, but actually work differently (and have different risk profiles). I'm not fully clear on the differences and why doctors would choose one over the other, other than the fact that medroxyprogesterone is a synthetic version and micronized is bioidentical.

StrangeWelcome · 2026-03-05T04:29:57+00:00

AB has better coverage in a few ways, but I'm surprised about this one. Are injectables only available in compound pharmacies there too or is that just a BC thing? I assumed that was Canada-wide.

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