Hey folks

Apologies in advance for any errors, typos, omissions, or unclear explanations. We've written this hastily whilst still in AuDHD burnout, fighting through brain fog and fatigue, after reading the latest QueerAF newsletter, which may otherwise have made this service seem legit. We are not a lawyer and we are happy to make amendments accordingly for those who have more experience than we have from our research. Also, boosts are most welcome.

The gist

Despite its official-sounding name, the UK Deed Poll Office is NOT an official government agency. They even admit as much in small print at the bottom of their contact us page:

The UK Deed Poll Office is not a government agency. Our function is purely as a document provider for the self-declaration of an unenrolled deed poll.

Problems

GDPR

We felt the need to do this post after seeing a worrying article in this week's QueerAF newsletter:

The UK Deed Poll Office just released analysis of the trends they see when trans people change their name.

Gender identity is considered special category data under GDPR, and comes with a lot of additional legal requirements for processing.

Other issues

Beyond the worrying GDPR implications, unenrolled deed polls are completely free, minus printing costs, to create, but not universally accepted in all UK nations, and yet this scam company:

Is charging people for a free deed poll creation process.
Implies that you need to apply for a legal name change in all UK nations.
Implies that the unenrolled deed poll will be accepted in every nation within the UK.

Legal name?

Strictly speaking, the UK doesn't have a concept of a legal name or surnames: at least not like other countries do. Instead, it's just what name people know you by. So the term legal name is often used, but it just means whatever your name is. However, how you formally change your name to update IDs varies across nations.

England and Wales

You can easily change your legal name, so long as it's not for nefarious or fraudulent purposes. As TransActual summarises it:

It is a principle of the law in England and Wales that a person’s legal name can be changed simply by using a new name and becoming known by it. There is no legal requirement for a new name to be enrolled or registered.
-- TransActual - Name Changes - An overview

Scotland

It's a bit different in Scotland, as Scottish law is different to English law in the treatment of deed polls. Technically, an unenrolled deed poll shouldn't be accepted as a legal document for formal name updates, at least if you were born in Scotland.

To update IDs, organisations will likely require a Statutory Declaration for Change of Name, which seems to be the most-common method that people follow.

You can pay a solicitor to do it (typically up to £10), but in theory it can be done for free. You will need to find your local court and book an appointment with Justice of the Peace for them to witness your statutory declaration. You may be kept waiting a while.

You aren't required to register a change of name for it to be considered legally valid, and some Scottish people have managed to use an enrolled deed poll to update IDs, but we'd recommend asking someone who really understands Scottish name change law.

It doesn't help that the page the UK gov deed poll page links to a to Scottish gov page that sends to imply you must pay and register the name.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is different again. You can use an unenrolled deed poll in theory, but you may need to apply for a name change through the General Register Office, which will cost money, and some methods may lead to registering the name change publicly.

We'd recommend reading the Rainbow Project name change page and reaching out to them for more info.

Creating a deed poll

If you do not have access to a printer, you could ask a friend if they can help you, or print from any public facility with free (or cheap) printing, like many libraries.

Although many choose to print their deed poll (or polls, if they make multiple originals) on fancy and/or thicker A4 paper (like parchment / certificate paper), this is not required. It's just to make it look more formal and less likely for be unjustly rejected when telling organisations, despite your right to rectification under GDPR.

Why you shouldn't enroll / register the name change

In England and Wales, avoid enrollment at all costs if you are trans or may be at risk if someone finds your new name.

Enrolling a deed poll will create a permanent searchable link between your old and new names, including a notification in the London Gazette. Anyone could find out your old name with only a few seconds of web searching.
-- GenderKit - Name change by deed poll - Warning

The same warning applies to Scotland and Northern Ireland: avoid registering a name change at all costs for the same folks.

Registering your name change will create a permanent searchable link between your old and new names, including a notice in The Gazette, the official publication of record. Anyone could find out your old name with only a few seconds of web searching.
-- GenderKit - Registering a name change - Warning

Removing name change from public record?

If you have already enrolled or registered your name change, you can ask The Gazette to remove your name change details, but you may not be able to remove the public record of your name change 😔

You could try to ask under the GDPR right to be forgotten, but we have no idea if that would be successful.

Where can I find more info?

Please check out the following links. They're not exhaustive, but should put you in the right direction.

GenderKit - Name change by deed
Free Deed Poll Generator for 16+
UK gov page on deed polls

Adult deed poll page
Under 16

#DeedPoll #UKDeedPollOffice #scam #UK #England #Wales #Scotland #NorthernIreland #NameChange #trans #transgender #enby #NonBinary #queer #LGBTQ+ #LGBTQIA+ #LGBTQIA2S+

One of the most infuriating things in the world is reading endless comments on somebody's social media post about coming out as #enby that are like, "oh, you just want attention and it's trendy" or "oh, you're just young and confused" - like, it would have changed my life to have non-binary role models as a kid.

When I went through puberty I was so miserable in my skin that I hid it from everyone including my family, and quit every hobby and sport in school that made me or other people see my own body in a sexualized way. Like, requires a short skirt and nylons? Guess that's over forever. Dance, swimming, forget it! Everything was impacted. I didn’t want to be a sexual adult woman with everything that came with, and I knew deeply to my core it wasn’t right - but I lacked any words.

I stole feminine hygiene products or sewed them out of scraps so I wouldn't have to ask my mom to buy them. It got me in trouble in school. I probably smelled. I bound my chest incorrectly until my ribs were permanently deformed.

Being #nonbinary isn't a fad, and people don't experience it in only one way. It's not always solely about societal gender roles. It can be deeply impactful to our entire lives, our relationships, and how we see ourselves. It's certainly not exclusive to AFAB people, though much harder for some AMAB people to live due to deep societal toxic masculinity. You're just hearing more about it now because there is finally awareness and terminology for people like me who spent their youth in confused misery because we thought we were completely broken. The next generation, and indeed all people today, should not have to live that way. It’s not something we choose to do to be cool.

Fedizens! Hello!

In the process of

*working on a petition to get a 🏳️‍⚧️ woman's death investigated

*being denied GAC as MA DMH patient myself and

* continuing to network with various law and legal groups I've come across a horrible truth:

⚠️MA Dept of Mental Health has no policies in place to ensure gender-diverse patients receive gender-affirming care!⚠️

This is shocking when considering that

👉🏼MA's Dept of Corrections already have policies and procedures in place👈🏿 to ensure inmates receive life-saving gender-affirming care!

We have law and policy makers and legal advocacy groups expressing interest in fixing this. However, let’s sign this petition to ensure the job gets done! You know what to do!

https://action.allout.org/en/m/68f59987

Please *sign* (regardless of location), share and 🚀 BOOST🚀

🏳️‍⚧️✊🏾🏳️‍🌈

#transgender #enby #petition
#activism #queer #lgbtqia #disability #HRT
#genderaffirmingcare

Hey folks

There are a number of estradiol simulators floating around the internet to help those taking monotherapy feminising gender-affirming hormone therapy / feminising HRT to simulate their E2 level with different esters.

e.g.,

https://transfemscience.org/misc/injectable-e2-simulator/
https://transfemscience.org/misc/injectable-e2-simulator-advanced/
https://grayoasis.com/esim/
https://a1ix2.github.io/estrannaise.js/

These simulators openly state that they can only give you an idea of what your E2 level might be. They can't tell you for certain what your peak or trough levels will be, or what the precise elimination half-life for any ester will be in your body.

For example, we inject 6 mg of estradiol enanthate (40 mg/mL; MCT oil) weekly.

According to many simulators, our trough should be much higher than it's been measured at.

We've attached a screenshot showing the simulation of our dose vs what we have had tested.

The simulators are great for giving you a rough idea of where to start, especially if you can't get blood tests immediately or at all.

However, in the long-run, if you can get blood tests, they will help you to find the ideal dose that works for you.

The most-common suggestion is to go for the lowest E2 trough that keeps your gondal testosterone production fully suppressed. However, this fails to take into account that some folks may feel better or worse on higher or lower doses of E2, so this should always be taken into account too.

Hope this helps someone

#E2 #estradiol #HRT #DIYHRT #OpenHRT #GAHT #GenderAffirmingHormoneTherapy #trans #transgender #TransFem #queer #LGBTQ+ #LGBTQIA+ #agender #enby #NonBinary #genderfluid #genderqueer

Edit: We've added that these are for monotherapy, as such simulators won't take into account the use of other medications alongside, such as GnRH agonists / antagonists or bicalutamide.

ALT

Puberty blockers ban

As many of you may already be aware, as one of their last acts in power, the government has placed restrictions on new prescriptions (NHS or private) of puberty blockers for trans people under 18.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-restrictions-on-puberty-blockers

The affected medications are ones that contain:

buserelin
gonadorelin
goserelin
leuprorelin acetate
nafarelin
triptorelin

It should be noted that that this is not a complete list of such medications, commonly referred to as gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists
Available forms

Additionally, there are similar drugs referred to as gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists. These have the same outcomes and low risk profiles of the banned medications, but have notably not been included in the ban.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists
Available forms

Alternatives to puberty blockers

Whilst puberty blockers are considered the gold standard:

They were mainly offered in place of gender-affirming hormone therapy in order to delay the medical transition of trans kids, in the hopes that they could be "persuaded" that they're not actually trans (i.e., conversion therapy).
Other alternatives to these do exist and are commonly available.

Anti-androgens

One notable alternative for trans fem kids is bicalutamide. It's not a perfect drug, as it has a rare chance of causing liver issues, so needs regular monitoring, but it can stop masculinisation by blocking androgen receptors in the body. It also has comparatively few common side effects vs other medications like spironolactone or cyproterone acetate, which are less ideal anti-androgens.

Anti-oestrogens

There are alternative anti-oestrogens, but they typically have a lot of side effects and risks. As a rule, most don't come highly recommended.

Monotherapy

It's very notable that the ban does not ban any oestradiol (aka estradiol; estrogen) or testosterone prescriptions.

This means that there is nothing to stop supportive parents from helping their trans kids to get a private prescription for oestradiol or testosterone.

Furthermore, due to the way human bodies work, if you maintain a high-enough trough (lowest) level of either oestradiol or testosterone, the body will basically tell the gonads to stop producing that hormone.

For trans fems, monotherapy typically requires maintaining an oestradiol trough of around 750 pmol/L. It varies from person to person, so some folks might need as little as 350 pmol/L.

You'll know if their oestradiol trough is sufficient if their testosterone level is 2.4 nmol/L or lower, though up to 3 nmol/L is still considered within the high-end of female range.

For trans mascs, a testosterone trough of around 10-12 nmol/L is generally considered the aim when using prescription testosterone medications like Nebido or Sustanon, with a peak around 25-30 nmol/L.

You'll typically know if their testosterone trough is sufficient if their oestradiol level is under 150 pmol/L, though some folks may be up to around 180 pmol/L.

Monotherapy completely avoids the need for a puberty blocker, an anti-androgen, or an anti-oestrogen.

It also has the delightful side-effect of making your trans kid happy to be starting the puberty that they want to go through sooner, thus alleviating their feelings of gender dysphoria and allowing them to enjoy their lives, rather than continuing to wait on non-existent NHS healthcare.

For trans fems, monotherapy is most easily achieved by a daily high-dose of oestradiol in the form of oestrogel (oestrogen gel) applied to a high-absorption area, but could in theory be achieved by sufficient patches applied twice weekly. Injections and implants are sadly not available on prescription.

For trans mascs, monotherapy can be achieved by daily application of testosterone gel or cream, but is more easily achieved by testosterone injections (Nebido or Sustanon).

Blood tests

These can be done privately, completely avoiding the need for the NHS.

You can find more information here:

https://genderkit.org.uk/resources/blood-testing/
https://transactual.org.uk/medical-transition/hormone-therapy/

Where can we find more information about gender-affirming care by experts who actually want to help trans kids?

Although far from perfect, arguably the best sources currently are:

WPATH Standards Of Care 8
UCSF guidelines for gender-affirming care

What if I'm still confused about all this?

Ask for help. We're all in this together. Some of us know a lot about how broken trans healthcare is on the NHS right now, not just for trans kids but for trans adults too.

The key thing to remember is that you are never alone. All you have to do is reach out and ask for help ​

Edits: Minor changes to language use and to add additional information.

#trans #transgender #enby #NonBinary #agender #genderfluid #genderqueer #transition #TransKids #TransKidsDeserveToThrive #ProtectTransKids #TransLiberation #TransLiberationNow #OpenHRT #TransRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights #queer #LGBTQ+ #LGBTQIA+ #PubertyBlockers #GnRH #GnRHAgonists #GnRHAntagonists #AntiAndrogens #AntiEstrogens #AntiOestrogens

With everything going on in the world to restrict access to gender-affirming hormone therapy, it's even more important that folks know where they can find info on doing this as safely as possible ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

You'll find almost everything you need to get started at the below:

https://hrtcafe.net/Homebrew/
https://www.reddit.com/r/estrogel/wiki/index/
https://www.reddit.com/r/estrogel/

r/estrogel contains info on more than just estradiol gels (i.e., testosterone/DHT; progesterone; gels and creams).

#trans #transgender #enby #NonBinary #HRT #DIYHRT #OpenHRT #PubertyBlockers #agender #bigender #demiboy #demigirl #genderfluid #genderqueer #2Spirit #intersex #TransRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransKidsDeserveToThrive #ProtectTransKids #queer #LGBT+ #LGBTQ+ #LGBTQIA+ #LGBTQIA2S+