Transitioning to a woman - What does it really look like?

The term MtF , or male-to-female, is sometimes used for transitioning to female. But that's also why some transgender women reject this label: Some transition as intersex people , while others identify as women , not men, their entire lives.

Either way, transition can vary significantly between women, depending on what changes the woman wishes to undergo. If she decides to officially transition in the Czech Republic, she will have to exchange documents and undergo a number of medical procedures. It is also a process that takes several years .

And what does such an official transition look like in detail? If you decide to go for it, you will first visit a sexology clinic . The doctor will discuss your wishes and problems with you and you will agree on the next steps. If you embark on the path of transition, the sexology clinic will be something of an umbrella workplace for you, sending you for further examinations and steps to obtain new documents.

It is entirely up to you how far you want to go during your transition. No one can force you to have surgery if you are comfortable with the letter M (male - male) remaining on your ID card. Listen to your body and soul and don't push yourself to go somewhere you don't necessarily need to go. Be sure to check out Lenka Králové's video in which she explains why she doesn't want to have surgery.

Unfortunately, not everyone who works in sexology is sufficiently enlightened in the transgender field. You may encounter misgendering (using the wrong grammatical gender towards you), questioning your feelings, and so on. The good news is that you don't have to limit yourself to just one person, and if you have a bad experience, you can turn to another sexology clinic .

If everything goes smoothly, the sexologist will send you to a clinical psychologist . This person is the only one in the entire circle who can diagnose you as transsexual and therefore issue you a recommendation for a registry office with a neutral name.

Although you are not obliged to change your name to a neutral one , there has already been a case in the Czech Republic of a transgender woman who kept her "male" name and the commission (which will be discussed below) approved the change in her documents .

The next place you will visit is the endocrinology department , which will take care of your hormones. First, they will measure your blood levels and then prescribe your doses. Since you are transitioning to a woman, they will prescribe you estrogen and a testosterone blocker .

Thanks to this combination, your body fat distribution will change, your erection will disappear , your breasts will start to grow , and your beard will stop growing . What won't change is your voice , and if you wish it to sound different, you can use the services of language coaching or undergo vocal cord surgery .

The next year or two of your transition will be a real-life test . This means that you will already be living in a female role. Be prepared for the fact that people around you may misgender you at first (this happens mainly in the beginning, before hormonal changes take effect), but there are solutions that can make it easier: for example, penis-hiding tapes , panties with a thicker front layer to flatten the penis, or breast pads .

If you decide to have the surgery and everything goes smoothly, you will eventually appear before the Expert Commission for the Implementation of Gender Reassignment of Transsexual Patients . They will approve or deny sterilization , in your case the removal of the testicles, which is a condition for changing your documents to a female name. You can also undergo vaginoplasty , i.e. the creation of a vagina, breast augmentation or facial refinement .