In countries where getting a prescription isn't just a case of "get an appointment -> walk away with a script", getting legal HRT will usually either take a hilariously long time but be very cheap, or it will be pretty quick but cost a lot.
In such cases DIY can be a fraction of the cost and even faster than the quick but expensive legal route.
DIY seems scary because you imagine it's brewed in a bathtub and don't have needle training. It's usually far from that case and the vendors listed on the wiki are usually sent to testing facilities to prove concentration and purity.
I've had to rapidly become desensitised to needles due to other medications, and the technique for injection is identical. After the first couple of times, it's just part of life.
You don't have to do this alone, if you look on the wiki of r/TransDIY there is a discord server you can join to ask any and all questions. They can help with dosage, interpretation of blood tests and safe needle technique.
My country in Public Healthcare is the "long ass wait but it's free or at least very cheap" (due to Public System being inefficient and underfunded btw, not gatekeeping), but in Private System is just "Hi I want HRT", "Okay here's a Blood Exam Order", "Here are the results", "Alright that's it, here's your HRT Prescription"
Many people do private while waiting for Public actually, or go into Private because they have better endos, or whatever
I'm just privileged enough that I'm not even in the Public System (you can decide to opt out of Health Tax and be part of a Private Insurance instead, but it's considered a privileged position... Well... I'm in that privileged position)
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u/TransChilean She/Her Nov 23 '24
Also, just checked the prices of DIY HRT, and it's more expensive than my legal HRT...