If I will get diagnosed with male-to-eunuch gender dysphoria and want to permanently get rid of all of my body hair and facial hair, then is my insurance going to cover the cost of this?

Any thoughts on this?

I think awareness is growing for the broad spectrum of gender identities out there, this can only be a good thing for people like us with what is, on the surface, seem to be considered freaks by greater society.

I'm beginning to discover that this was a misconception of society on my part.

Infact the more I talk to the important people in my life, the more I've come to realise that I'm not alone.

A little more about me, I'm a straight Male who does not identify with his penis or penetrative sex.

Tbh, penetrative sex is difficult, painful and humiliating for me, from my anxiety over failure to perform and maintain an erection.

My earliest memories about my penis was a sexualised desire to cut it off, I wanted to play with it like a toy, keep it in my pocket, accidentally lose it or have it stolen from my bag by a pretty girl, who would tease me.

For nearly all of my life I've kept silent on this, feeling ashamed for being a freak, I've only very recently started to talk in depth to my close female friends about it, and to be honest, they were all really supportive of the way I felt, even if they advised against surgery.

One close gay female friend recommend I need to live the lifestyle for at least a year before I make any decisions, which was really helpful.

So I suppose this reply isn't directly related to the question you asked, but if you "go looking " for a diagnosis, you might not see why you're looking for one.

Futurist (imported) wrote: Wed Nov 11, 2015 7:47 pm If I will get diagnosed with male-to-eunuch gender dysphoria and want to permanently get rid of all of my body hair and facial hair, then is my insurance going to cover the cost of this?

Any thoughts on this?

Hi futurist,

When I was transitioning male-to-female, I hoped health insurance would cover facial hair removal. At that time, back in 2008 - 2011, I was undergoing weekly facial electrolysis. My insurance did not cover this. I asked around and no one knew of a health plan that covered hair removal. Maybe this has changed, although I would not be surprised if it hasn't. Hair removal in transgender persons, which I'd guess now includes

Futurist (imported) wrote: Wed Nov 11, 2015 7:47 pm male-to-eunuch gender dysphoria,

was considered cosmetic and, therefore, not needed. Hah!

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health considers hair removal to be medically necessary. You can read their complete statement here: http://www.wpath.org/site_page.cfm?pk_a ... bpage=3947. Here is the paragraph addressing the need for hair removal:

"Medically necessary sex reassignment procedures also include complete hysterectomy, bilateral mastectomy, chest reconstruction or augmentation as appropriate to each patient (including breast prostheses if necessary), genital reconstruction (by various techniques which must be appropriate to each patient, including, for example, skin flap hair removal, penile and testicular prostheses, as necessary), facial hair removal, and certain facial plastic reconstruction as appropriate to the patient."

The WPATH statement is non-binding, but rather a series of recommendations.

I recommend contacting your insurance carrier, or any carrier you are considering, to get electrolysis coverage information.

Insurance coverage for gender dysphoria is still evolving. Different states have different minimum requirements for health insurance coverage. Different insurance companies interpret the requirements in various ways. Who covers what is a recurring topic among the professionals in the field -- many of them searching for proper coverage for their clients. At this point you will need to do some of your own exploration to find out what coverage is available for you. If you have a good counselor, that person may be able to help you. If not, your counselor can check with WPATH to see if they have any advice for people in your state.

Dear Futurist,

If you are covered through a plan through your employment, your rights are (largely) governed by your plan. Getting hold of a detailed set of criteria for what your plan covers is not easy. The doctors who are helping you will probably be able to access the benefits details more easily even though they are not providing the hair removal services themselves. It is hard for members to get the detailed information; it may be available through your insurance company's website. (The general "benefits summary" is not going to be helpful on something like this. But if you poke around on the website or there is a number to call, you may get somewhere. If you are dealing with some kind of state-funded public insurance system, if you have a case worker they should be able to put you in touch with someone who can give you answers. But if you are in a publicly funded medical program the benefits are usually not nearly as generous and there are fewer participating providers.

It's too bad that such a simple question requires such a complicated and conditional answer, but there you are. Good luck

Danya (imported) wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:37 pm Hi futurist,

When I was transitioning male-to-female, I hoped health insurance would cover facial hair removal. At that time, back in 2008 - 2011, I was undergoing weekly facial electrolysis. My insurance did not cover this. I asked around and no one knew of a health plan that covered hair removal. Maybe this has changed, although I would not be surprised if it hasn't. Hair removal in transgender persons, which I'd guess now includes

[quote="Futurist (imported)" tim

Danya (imported) wrote: Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:37 pm e=1447231620]
male-to-eunuch gender dysphoria,

was considered cosmetic and, therefore, not needed. Hah!

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health considers hair removal to be medically necessary. You can read their complete statement here: http://www.wpath.org/site_page.cfm?pk_a ... bpage=3947. Here is the paragraph addressing the need for hair removal:

"Medically necessary sex reassignment procedures also include complete hysterectomy, bilateral mastectomy, chest reconstruction or augmentation as appropriate to each patient (including breast prostheses if necessary), genital reconstruction (by various techniques which must be appropriate to each patient, including, for example, skin flap hair removal, penile and testicular prostheses, as necessary), facial hair removal, and certain facial plastic reconstruction as appropriate to the patient."

The WPATH statement is non-binding, but rather a series of recommendations.

I recommend contacting your insurance carrier, or any carrier you ar
[/quote]
e considering, to get electrolysis coverage information.

Thank you very much for all of this information, Danya! Also, though, I would like to point out that I myself certainly don't want to do everything on this list--for instance, while I certainly want to get rid of my testicles, I certainly don't want to get rid of my penis.