Alive and Well

by Craig Andrews

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

From the early days of F.T.M. Australia in 2001 when there were only twelve members to today with over 200 members, the network is in great shape! Over the past seven years, the F.T.M. Australia network has been slowly growing as new members join up to be part of a truly national network across Australia. We also welcome New Zealand members as full members of our network.

If you're thinking about transitioning female-to-male, or you are already transitioning, why don't you join up as a member? You can do this online at our website or by dropping a letter in the post to our address in the National section of the Directory Assistance page of this website.

F.T.M. Australia has a range of members of all ages, including a growing number of older men who transitioned years ago. Our newsletter, Torque, is free to members and published four times a year. Torque is jam-packed full of information for men transitioning female-to-male in Australia and New Zealand. It has proven to be a very useful to our membership scattered throughout Australia - your advertisements are free in Torque, contact old friends or guys in your area, there's useful information about transition, and we have a growing number of regular writers.

The website is growing with a huge amount of personal stories and information specific to your situation and the network offers a free nationwide referrals listing for health service providers. The online library has plenty of stories and information going back to 1991.

Back in 2003, a partner took on the huge job of creating a handbook catering to the needs of partners and family members. She created a fantastic resource called "Stand By Your Man (and stay sane in the process)" - a handbook full of personal accounts by partners and other family members, information about transitioning from guys who'd been there as well as information about getting married and starting a family. Since then, Stand By Your Man has been revised and has been re-published recently with new items. You can see an advertisement for this informative resource in this edition of Polare.

Over time, F.T.M. Australia has slowly provided a huge range of different resources. You can see them on our publications page on our website. There are two helpful fact sheets about chest reconstructive surgery ("Chest Surgery & Chest Surgery Questions") written by a plastic reconstructive surgeon in Sydney who has done hundreds of chest surgeries; newly revised "Guidelines for journalists" and a really practical information sheet if you're wondering "Can we have children?" F.T.M. Australia has an increasing number of families headed up by Dads who started life in a female form.

If you have access to the Internet, come and chat with us on Thursday nights 7:30p.m. until around 9:30p.m. (A.E.S.T.. This has become our regular get together online. Details on how to join in are on our website.

If you just want to leave a quick note about our website or service, you can also leave a note on the (spam-free) guestbook. As you might have already read over in "Letters to the Editor" we have an email support group called OzGuys for all members of the network who have an email address. If you've got questions about transition, testosterone, doctors, treatment, surgeries or you are willing to offer your ideas on "how-to's and help others out - why don't you join up? This online support group has been very helpful to many men over the years and this important work between members continues today!

The most exciting thing this year for F.T.M. Australia is the up-coming publication Transitioning Female-to-Male in Australia. This isn't far off now. At over 240 pages in draft form, this is going to be a really solid useful resource when finished.

Draft sections of the text are currently being edited by others involved in this publication. If you'd like to be part of the team and join James, Henry, Matt, Alex and Jake - please drop me a line.

If you'd like to reserve a copy in advance, (to make sure I order a sufficient number of first runs) let me know.

The handbook needs a book cover which will be full colour front and back. If you'd like to give this a go, there's a book cover design competition open until the first of November. Contact F.T.M. Australia for more info about this and the measurements. If you have any questions about this book cover please email mail@ftmaustralia.org

I'm hoping to be able to put something in Polare each edition about F.T.M. Australia. Until December, be safe.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.