A Baldock transgender man has opened up on his battle with alcohol and his mental health as he desperately fights for a body to match his identity.

Kade Mynott, 32, suffered with severe mental health problems as he struggled to come to terms with his true self prior to coming out as transgender.

He also became dependent on alcohol for a number of years before he bravely told his family and friends how he felt.

Now he has started taking testosterone and hopes to soon have top surgery - but NHS waiting times can be long and Kade is having to wear a restrictive chest binder which affects his asthma.

To help, a Go Fund Me page has been set up to raise 8,000 to get Kade the surgery he so desperately wants.

Kade has now courageously shared his story and explained what it has been like to come to terms with his identity:

For the majority of Kade's life so far, he has struggled with his identity and his mental health.

Talking about his experience, he said: "I've struggled for a long time with mental health issues and it clouded my judgements for many years.

"I got into drinking alcohol to deal with my problems so it took me a long time to be able to deal with how I felt.

"I was alcohol dependant for 10 years but I managed to get myself off it after it made my mental health issues worse. I managed to go cold turkey and get myself off alcohol in 2016.

"In the years that followed things started to become a lot clearer about my identity. I didn't manage to come out as transgender until I was age 30 in 2018.

"The whole experience was one of the toughest things I have had to deal with, not knowing who you are is a horrible thing to have to deal with.

"But you add on top the hate you have for yourself and your body for not seeing the outside match the inside.

"I'd shown a lotof signs as a child growing up with having my hair cut short. Even at the age of three I was refusing to wear dresses and skirts and just wanted to wear trousers like all my boy cousins were doing.

"I managed to come out to my mum first - I'm very close to my mum and she is extremely understanding and I'm very lucky to have such a great mum.

"One of my aunties also told me, when I came out, that when I was four I told her I wanted to be a boy. So I guess I have always known but just never knew how to deal with it all.

"My family have been very supportive, my friends have also, which is a great help.

"Like I said, I am extremely lucky to have such a good family around me because I know a lotof people can be the opposite and be disowned for being this way."

Fortunately today, transgender people can now seek help from the NHS in the form of hormone therapies and surgery, and Kade has also managed to get help.

Kade explained: "I went to my GP first to start my journey and she referredme to a NHS Transgender Clinic in London but with such high demand in patients over the past years the waiting lists are just getting longer and longer.

"I've heard there was up to a three or more years waiting time and I was starting to struggle with the dysphoria even more, so I decided to go private to start testosterone treatment.

"I was so happy the day I had the appointment and was told I could start testosterone. I was given Testogel, which was the best option for me as - because of my mental health conditions - the injections could of made my mood more unstable.

A transgender person is someone whose personal idea of their gender does not match with their assigned gender role.

For example a transgender man was born a woman but identifies as a man.

However, under this term, a personal can also identify as a combination of the two sexes or as neither.

Often people who identify as transgender suffer from gender dysphoria where there feel distress because of a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity.

This is a recognised medical condition and often surgery and hormone treatment as well as psychological support can help with this.

Anyone needing help should see their GP who can refer them to a Gender Identity Clinic (GIC).

More information about gender dysphoria can also be found on the NHS website.

"The effects were slow at first until about the three month mark then my voice started dropping and I'd started getting a lot of body hair growth, and hunger - I wasso hungry all the time!

"I'm only just seven months on testosterone so I've got a lot more to experience yet."

Kade now wants to undergo top surgery but waiting times on the NHS can be long depending on the individual surgeon and clinic.

The waiting time is now affecting Kade and he is desperate to finally feel like his true self.

In a hope to get the surgery quicker, he decided to set up a Go Fund Me page to raise 8,000 to have the surgery privately.

"As I said there is a long waiting list to get an appointment at the NHS gender clinic and even after the first appointment I'd have to wait longer for a second appointment to discuss the option of surgery," he continued.

"It's got too hard waiting especially as you see other parts of your body changing more masculine but there is still obvious signs of being female.

"I'm having to wear binders that restrict my breathing and effect my asthma just to hide my chest.

"I'd be extremely grateful for anyone that donated any money, even the littlest of money helps.

"It would make me so happy to finally be able to live in a body that matches how i feel inside."

Kade also has a message for anyone else who is currently struggling to come to terms with their identity.

He said: "Make sure you talk about it to somebody you think you can trust, just sharing it with someone even if its somebody online takes a big weight off of your shoulders.

"It's okay to be confused and it's okay to not feel like your in the right body you can do things to change it."

The rest is here:
Baldock transgender man's painful battle to live in a body that matches his identity - Hertfordshire Mercury

Comments are closed.