TransPanTastic: Transgender parenting, work, marriage, transition, and life!

Sometimes our life is amazing. We have great kids, good jobs, supportive friends, and most importantly each other. But then something comes up that overshadows everything else, causes stress, and keeps us from enjoying the rest of life. Lately, that something has been health care. For many trans* folk, medical transition is a struggle to access, and George's experiences with trying to get his medical needs met have been a trial. The stress of it has been huge, and the hormonal roller coaster won't quit until his dosage is fixed. Unfortunately, the MDeity isn't listening, so he found another doctor with a slightly different outlook. Will things be different? We'll see. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.net/, you can email us at [email protected], and "TransPanTastic" is searchable on most social networks. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

... or is that coming outs? George expressed his identity to a family friend who happens to be his boss. As his boss, she was able to begin checking into the employer's needs, but we were more interested that family friends be aware of the situation, as we were planning on telling the kids. We want them to be able to talk through and process this as needed over the summer, and grandpas and aunties should probably hear it from us first! The kids, however, seemed more interested in ice cream than in their "new" dad. Check TransPanTastic.net for a list of books we, our children, or our employers, found helpful! We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.net/, you can email us at [email protected], and "TransPanTastic" is searchable on most social networks. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

George & Jess went to Seattle, home of the Space Needle, GenderCast, the Seahawks, lots of rain, and our good friends who just got married! The trip was George's first time going "full time", and it was, overall, a positive experience. From the Trans*101 talk we stumbled into, to the gorgeous wedding, to the drag king show, a fun time was had by all. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.net/, you can email us at [email protected], and "TransPanTastic" is searchable on most social networks. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

Our conversation today was a bit rambly, as is our life often. First we indulge in a little ratings-whoring, so please rate us on iTunes, follow our twitter, tumblr, facebook, google+ (all listed in-site as "TransPanTastic"), and leave comments on our site! We then proceed to discuss positive things about our kids (they're not always rant-making), our upcoming trip to Seattle for a friend's wedding, and healthcare/self-care for HRT and surgery plans. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.net/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

"You mistake my choice not to feel as a reflection of my not caring, while I assure you the truth is precisely the opposite." Spock's words in the most recent Star Trek movie fit a metaphor we've used for a few years, when hitting the off-switch on one's feelings to logically assess and address a situation. So at the risk of starting to sound like a YouTube channel, we continue the testosterone updates, but through the magic of the interweb, one week after our "one month" episode, we reach "six weeks" of HRT. This week we learn that George is not only becoming a pansy, but a pointy-eared logical vulcan, and a caveman as well, complete with body hair and toilet humor. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

At just over a month on testosterone, George has just had his third injection. We discuss the ups and downs of the injection cycle, and how that experience has affected George so far, and how Jess is dealing with poking him in the rear on a fortnightly basis. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

Holy smallfolk, Batman! Kids make Jess swear. And to be fair, there's a lot to swear about. Extra-special needs, autism, developmental delays, occupational therapy, public school nonsense, and trying to juggle careers and transition in the meanwhile, make us very busy and occasionally frustrated. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

We had to cut a significant amount of content from this episode, from personally identifying information to lots of throat-clearing as George's vocal cords start to thicken as a result of testosterone. And speaking of testosterone, now that the medical part of George's transition has gotten underway it's time to start informing friends and family. You never know how people will take the news that their child, friend, or sibling will be changing gender, but George's experiences so far, with the few people he's had "the talk" with, have been fairly positive. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

We run almost a full half-hour today, as George finally had his appointment at the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka-dot gender clinic, and he finally gets testosterone. Recorded just shy of a week on T, we discuss our initial impressions of his new experience. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

A trip to IKEA, and a bathroom snafu on the way home, made us think about how important it is to be realistic. George finds it important and helpful to see the world and his own place in it from a range of viewpoints, both to effectively present himself as he is at this early stage of transition (still pre-everything), and to map out a plan or timeline for effectively managing the process of transition when he, like many trans* folk, want it now! We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

After a quick update on George's process toward medical transition (he's still waiting on any formal medical intervention), we discuss other support that we've found for this journey, both online and in person. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

With a family of five living in one house, when one of us gets sick we all get sick. But never at the same time. First child 2 brings it home from school, then it passes from person to person, and just as one of us gets better, another gets ill. As a family that prefers natural medicine over synthetic whenever possible, we seem to be managing pretty well. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

This gender thing is complicated. The binary as a social construct is not entirely applicable to the entire range of human experience, and the terminology used within a binary system can be confusing or frustrating to individuals who don't fit their culturally expected roles. This week we discuss identity, pronouns, and how the recent shifts in George's presentation have affected the way others interact with him. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

Last week was all-about-George week, but some of you have asked about the other half of our fine team. So this week Jess talks about herself and her experience as pansexual nonbinary/genderqueer quasi-femme. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

George talks about his life so far as trans*, from childhood up to now, answering the common question, "When did you know you were transgender?" We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

George finally gets to the endocrinologist, hoping to start T sooner than later, but she tells him to check with the surgeon. Surgeon? He hadn't scheduled with a surgeon yet. Whoops! Please forgive the page-flipping at the start, George is finding the right page in his notebook to read from. In other news, We got our iTunes listing. If you came here by way of iTunes, and you like what we're doing, let them know. If you came here by way of another podcatcher, or via some signal-bump on another queer site, go subscribe on iTunes anyway, because star ratings and reviews will bump us up the listings and let more people in on the fun! Go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/transpantastic/id629125132 to rate and review us, and we'll love you for it. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

While George waits for his appointment with the endocrinologist, he decides to visit a therapist. Family and friends are supportive, but an outside viewpoint can be helpful while we wait. The WPATH Standards Of Care and ICATH model of Informed Consent may not require therapy for gender transition anymore, but that doesn't mean that it isn't beneficial anyway. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

Lily Tomlin, in character as Ernestine the Operator, once said "You must think HMO stands for 'Help Me Out'!" The endocrinologist's prettyboy receptionist was unhelpful and borderline obstructionist, to the point that a number of George's friends were expressing concerns about bigotry and discrimination. His insurance, however, wouldn't have any of it, and he's now (finally) on his way to an appointment with the endo. In other news, we've decided that since we have a lot to say lately, we're going to release every week for a month or so, and then get back to every other week when things settle back down. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

We have kids. Three of them. Jess brought numbers one and three, George brought number two, to share a home for just over two years now. Numbers one and two are special-needs, and all three of them like to drive us crazy. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

Between referrals and phone calls, George has to visit "that" doctor. Nobody likes visiting "that" doctor, and men least of all, but this one turns out to be surprisingly helpful! We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!

In our inaugural episode, George discusses his transition, or lack thereof, so far. Also included: parenting, podcasting, and a throwaway reference to The Kills. We can be found online at http://TransPanTastic.blogspot.com/, and you can email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you think or what you want to hear about!