At first you want to go fast, but you have to be patient

Ever since he was little he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't put a name to it. He felt a huge rejection towards everything his companions did and a lot of discomfort if he had to wear a skirt. Something as normal as going shopping was a real ordeal for him and since he was little he hated the name his parents had given him, a woman's name. Aran explains how at the age of 15 he realized what was wrong. "It was when I saw some videos of transsexual people and I felt fully identified with what they had."

This young man from Vigo reports that it took him a few months to face it, a time in which “I prepared myself to tell it, I was afraid of a possible rejection but my family reacted very well and in general everyone around me except for a few rare cases. Thanks to your support, and especially my sister's, everything was much easier”.

At first, he points out, "I had to go to the psychologist because of the issue of facing it and that I felt I had to hide it, and all of that was a great emotional drain, but then I didn't need it."

He admits, looking back, that he has realized that the most important thing is to “be patient”. This young man from Vigo explains that “at first you really want to go fast, to make the physical change as soon as possible but as time progresses you are aware that the process is slow and that many things can change. You have to wait a bit so as not to fall into restlessness and despair.” In her case, she has been taking hormones for about two years, but it has reached a point where "I begin to wonder if I will finally undergo breast surgery." In this sense, Aran considers that "the biological process is not the most important thing to feel in accordance with your identity."

This student confirms today "to be sure of knowing 100% who I am" and recognizes that there are still too many social prejudices and stereotypes that can partly cause that need to accelerate the process of change. "To me now I no longer care about the type of clothing you wear, but it is true that it is considered that, for example, the skirt has to be linked to the woman or vice versa with other garments that are recognized as masculine”, she points out.

He has changed his name but not yet his sex, "it doesn't seem fair to me that the law requires you to take hormones for a while to be able to change it."

Genital surgery for people from Vigo, a two-year wait to be referred to Málaga

In Vigo, the vast majority of transsexual people who finish hormone therapy undergo breast surgery, either augmentation in the case of trans women well reduced in the case of men. "In the case of girls, hormones may be enough, however with them they usually go to the operating room because treatment alone is not enough and it bothers them a lot," explains Dr. Eduardo Pena.

The head of Endocrinology at the Complejo Hospitalario de Vigo assures that “we are faced with increasingly complex situations, such as that of a patient who only wanted a mastectomy and nothing more. She was born in a female body, with a partly male mentality and she wants to have an androgen body, but without hormonal treatment.

While pectoral surgery is performed in Vigo, genital surgery is not. “At the moment it has not started in Galicia and these types of operations must be referred to Malaga, which were pioneers in this type of intervention. What happens is that there is a delay of about two years and that time greatly aggravates the suffering of these people after years of treatment and a process that is uncomfortable and painful," says Pena, who "it will be necessary to expand resources but neither it is easy to find specialized surgeons because reconstructing genitals so that they can function normally is very complex.

Regarding the initial treatment, he states that "they usually start by blocking puberty when it has already started, which gives time to process it and when the minor has decided to do so, we would start with the corresponding crossed hormones."

A protocol allows the change of school name

Being able to obtain a DNI where the name and sex appear in accordance with gender identity is a very important form of reaffirmation for transsexual people. Both the groups and the experts agree on this. There is, however, a school protocol for minors that allows said change prior to the registration to facilitate adaptation and integration in an environment that can be hostile.

Aran recounts how the school did not have any problems, “it is true that at first it was a bit strange for some classmates and teachers due to the novelty but it was not rejection, I did not feel it”. The situation, although still in the process of change, is very different from that of years ago. Soledad, from Chrysallis, remembers how her daughter had a worse time. Now she is an adult but at the time, "they insulted her for wearing a pink bag or pants."

This association demands that the deadlines of the Trans Law, Draft Law for the real and effective Equality of Trans people and for the Guarantee of the Rights of LGTBI people be met to avoid discrimination and the situation they are suffering minors. Just yesterday, they gathered in front of the Congress of Deputies.