The Real Reveal: The Believe In Better Project - Trans Forming Healthcare
The Believe in better project: Trans forming Healthcare
I have worked with Hailey Sault as their executive coach for many years. Mike Seyfer is one of the few CEO’s I’ve met that consistently walks his commitment to equity, and he uses his privileged voice to keep showing up for marginalized humans on this planet.
It has been my honor to speak at the “Believe in Better” events hosted by Hailey Sault, and it was again my honor to sit down with Mike and the ever-powerful Ann Elkins to shine some light on Transgender humans and their experience with healthcare in the United States.
One of the most frustrating parts of being a transgender human is that our experience is not validated in the world. I can’t tell you how many times something blatant has happened to me and when I share with others what I hear back is, “really!!! That happened to you, I just can’t believe it” Yes Really!
Yes Really, it took me four times of being told directly, “we don’t work with transgender people” or “those people” before I found someone willing to be my GP.
Really, we were told by three fertility clinics that they wouldn’t work with us.
Really, when I was advocating for a young transman that had 16 cysts in his ovaries….
Really, it took him bleeding for months of pain before a Dr. would give him a prescription for a medically necessary hysterectomy. A surgery he wanted anyway.
And yes, Really when he finally got to the hospital for said hysterectomy, the surgeon refused to perform the surgery because “she” might want to have babies someday. Instead that surgeon inserted an IUD adding to the pain of the young transman.
And then yes Really, it took me calling every gynecologist in town to get someone willing to see him and then finally take care of him the wat he should have been taken care of in the beginning.
For transgender humans to get good healthcare in our country, it always takes extra work, extra time, and extra money. Part of systemic discrimination is putting barriers up for access to the basic necessities of life--knowing that people will just give up when it’s too hard or too scary.
Transmen have a higher rate of ovarian cancer than most cis gender humans. This is due, in part, because many transmen, butches and masculine expressed non binary humans are not interested in the humiliation that comes with their legs in stirrups. Not to mention how uncomfortable it is to go to the office and then potentially be treated like a freak.
The last time I went in for a pap smear, I had to remind the nurse to give me a gown because the look of me had her so befuddled she forgot what I was there for.
All this to say we have a long way to go to make safe spaces for all humans especially in the area of healthcare and it I am grateful to Mike Seyfer, Ann Elkins and the whole Hailey Sault team for their consistent action toward their commitment to their mission of creating a healthy world for all people.
I hope you enjoy this podcast episode of the Believe in Better Podcast and keep following their work. These days we have to be very conscious of what we focus on. The truth is, there is more good happening in the world than bad; we just can’t see it because the bad gets all the press.
Knowing that what we focus on always expands, it’s a perfect time to start focusing on Believe in Better.