why private?
There is a LOT I feel like I wanna cover, and it’s all jumbled out of order since I’m about 2.5 years in with all of this (more, if you consider that it’s been something I’ve been confused about/questioning my entire life) so I’ll try to keep things in order but it’s hard when the most recent stuff is happening RIGHT NOW and its exciting and fresh. However context and knowledge of what came before is also useful. I’ll probably be doing posts in a few ways:
- Journal type posts of things as and when they happen.
- Journal type posts of “hey lets talk about the past” which I’ll try to slot in where I can so that all the up to date stuff makes a little more sense with context.
- “Big Question” posts, with their subsequent answers. Such as this one!
So, why did I decide to pursue this privately?
I’m a saver, by nature. This might come as a surprise to some who know me, because I am also a lover of “stuff and things”. But I work hard at my job, and I enjoy the comfort and security of healthy savings. Just in case. You never know. So, the first part of my answer to “why private?” is because I can. Literally I’m in the very privileged and lucky position to be able to afford to do so. The UK does have NHS systems and processes to support transgender people through gender reassignment and all sorts of other things. However, it’s VASTLY underfunded and the demand is phenomenal right now. Wait times just to get into a gender clinic here can be around two years. Wait times for top surgery are 4-5 years in some places. So the second part of my answer to the question is, if I have the ability to avoid wait times like that (don’t get me wrong, I’m under no illusion that going private will mean I’m sorted asap, there are wait times there too) it seemed like a no-brainer. And also, why take up a slot that someone else who is unable to pursue private care could make use of instead? It just made sense.
