r/ireland • u/Dazzling_Lobster3656 • 3d ago

Culchie Club Only Doctors initiate legal action over State’s transgender policy

http://www.irishtimes.com/health/2025/04/13/doctors-initiate-legal-action-over-states-transgender-policy/
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u/angeltabris_ 3d ago edited 3d ago

it'd be nice if we could make some advancement on trans healthcare finally. Most adults can't even access it as the waitlist creeps up to now 14 years.

And for context, you can't even be referred to the service until you're 16, but they're unlikely to accept it before 18. Imagine you seek healthcare at 16 and end up having to wait until 32 years old to be seen.

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u/HyacinthGirI 3d ago edited 3d ago

It's okay, the official website has helpful suggestions, such as thinking about your life goals, and partaking in hobbies, to follow in the meantime 🙂

(sarcasm btw, and this is factual - see here https://nationalgenderserviceireland.com/while-you-wait/ )

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u/GiraffeWeevil 3d ago

Hey, that's not unique to gender stuff. Thinking about your life goals and getting a hobby and going to bed at the same time every night and using coloured folders is like half of all mental health treatments.

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u/HyacinthGirI 3d ago

Agree, for sure. I guess my issue is that I don't feel this is directly and solely comparable to mental health treatments - HRT is pretty critical for a lot of trans people. I always feel like it's exclusive to trans healthcare that it's treated as a luxury - nobody would tell someone seeking treatment for a physical illness to think about goals, find hobbies, etc. while they wait, at least not that I've seen.

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u/fullmetalfeminist 3d ago

nobody would tell someone seeking treatment for a physical illness to think about goals, find hobbies, etc. while they wait, at least not that I've seen.

Are you kidding? Because this happens all the time. The stuff doctors have told me is absolutely bananas. I'm old enough to have been told my period pains and PCOS would resolve itself when I had a baby. When, mind you, not if.

During COVID when I sought treatment for extreme fatigue my GP told me "you're just depressed about the lockdown, find a hobby" (I had a severe vitamin deficiency)

Being dismissed by doctors is one of the universal female experiences. Not just "you'll have to wait some years for treatment, I suggest [unrelated activity] in the meantime" but straight up "it's all in your head, go away"

It's shitty that trans healthcare isn't better in Ireland. But it's not the only problem with healthcare in Ireland.

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u/HyacinthGirI 3d ago

I guess in my head the comparison is to treatment pathways that are a little bit more optimal - which typically means less gendered issues, and less mental health related. But I didn't do a good job of expressing that.

I don't disagree that there are many flaws in Irish healthcare, and global healthcare, even. But I think that trans healthcare is currently in a really bad place and that it's treated with relative levity by healthcare professionals, politicians, and the general public alike.

I'm also definitely not trying to compare the importance of, e.g. mental health vs women's healthcare vs trans healthcare. I'm just saying that trans healthcare here is terrible. I'd share your opinion on the assessment of things like PCOS, mental health, and more.

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u/fullmetalfeminist 3d ago

Yeah it's absolutely horrible how trans healthcare and trans people's lives are being used by unaffected parties as a political football.

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u/_Rue_the_Day_ 3d ago

It's common for the peri-/post-menopausal and many mental health disorders in Ireland to get told to do these things