How to Get the Best Results from Your MTF Transition by Dr. Z

"How can I get the best out of my transition from male to female?" This question doesn't have one clear-cut answer—and that's actually the point.

The first question you need to ask yourself: What does "best" mean to you? Many people want a specific blueprint to follow, but superimposing a cookie-cutter approach onto your individual history, resources, finances, and psychological makeup can be detrimental. The assumption that you need to "do everything under the sun" to be a valid trans woman? False. You're not "not woman enough" unless you have bottom surgery. That's nonsense.

Start with your goals. What do you actually want from transition? Alleviating dysphoria? Evolving into your authentic self? Specific physical changes? Write them down, no matter how impossible or grand they seem. Without goals, you're approaching transition in a hodgepodge way that won't align with your circumstances.

Work backwards from those goals. Break them into achievable steps. If your goal is facial feminization surgery, what's the pathway? Insurance coverage? Saving money? Accessing care in your country? Map it out realistically.

Manage your expectations. Most people think gender transition happens externally—hormones, surgeries, coming out. But the biggest factor determining success? Your mindset.

I've worked with a homeless client on Medicare with severe trauma who made her transition happen through sheer resilience and mindset. I've also worked with clients with unlimited funds who were so self-defeated that nothing was ever good enough. Mindset is your biggest friend and your biggest cheerleader.

Things will happen beyond your control. How you make sense of those experiences and what you choose to do next—that's within your control.