AAA<\/p>\n
For Kyro McDonald, transitioning felt like a waiting game.<\/p>\n
Now a year into his hormone therapy journey, the 19-year-old still wishes he could have accessed the life-changing medical treatments sooner.<\/p>\n
McDonald described his journey to coming out to his family as a trans man at 16 as both confusing and \u201cvery scary\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPuberty is when I started to figure stuff out. I\u2019d always been a very, very girly girl. I\u2019ve always liked makeup, all that stuff. It was just more my body image when I started going through puberty [when things started to feel off]. It was such an odd feeling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Sandi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/88b1c572df9f53f0d468a4dd0684ca6b42873e206a784bfcda981f61c4bf4858.jpeg\")
Sandi and Kyro McDonald.Sandi McDonald<\/p>\n
\u201cIt already is [weird] going through puberty in general \u2013 but when you\u2019re looking at men, and you\u2019re looking at women, and you\u2019re like, \u2018Wait a second, I want to be doing what they\u2019re doing\u2019, that you realise you shouldn\u2019t be feeling like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDonald, who appears alongside his mother Sandi in an upcoming episode of Insight about trans medicine, said he couldn\u2019t imagine his life as a woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more like dread of the idea of going through a female puberty and how I was going to develop more. I remember hearing about it, and periods, and childbirth and all that stuff, and it just was such a disconnect in my brain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so foreign and weird. But then the idea of being a man felt more comfortable. It felt safe to me. It felt calmer, and it just felt right compared to being a woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my problem was, again, I was very feminine. I still liked girly stuff. I still liked makeup. And it was not until I\u2019d watched more queer media where I saw more gay flamboyant men when I realised, \u2018Wait, that\u2019s an option? I can be that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite cutting his hair, binding his chest and dressing more masculine, without parental consent McDonald was unable to begin his transitioning journey before he was 18.<\/p>\n
In WA, people younger than 18 have access to puberty blockers and hormone treatments \u2013 as long as both parents give consent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could talk to my mum about it, but then I couldn\u2019t because she was still very dismissive of it at that point and I just could not talk to my dad about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
McDonald said his mum was \u201cin denial\u201d about his desire to transition and believes she thought it was a phase he was going through.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven at that point, when I was 15 it was still like, \u2018You\u2019re just a bit confused\u2019 because my friends were queer. So [she thought I was] just copying them and it was just a funsy little thing we all get together and do,\u201d he said,<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s like, no, we don\u2019t want to get hate crimes, it\u2019s not like a fun cute thing where we go outside and get yelled at.\u201d<\/p>\n
While McDonald wishes his parents had supported his desire to begin hormone therapy at 16, he understands their hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 100 per cent get it. Because at the end of the day, it\u2019s a big thing. Almost all the changes with testosterone are irreversible. Like, your voice isn\u2019t going to un-drop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also understand the fact that it\u2019s scary, you\u2019re losing your daughter, and if it was a mistake, then she\u2019s going to have all these issues when she\u2019s older \u2013 like I get that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my mental health was so bad because I\u2019m trapped, not being able to do anything about anything \u2026 and I felt like once I was on hormones, [things would be better].\u201d<\/p>\n
A few months after his 18th birthday, McDonald had his first appointment to go on hormones and, by February 2025, had his first shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so giddy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But appointments aren\u2019t easy to come by.<\/p>\n
McDonald plans to undergo top surgery and said he has had to wait a year just to have his first initial assessment appointment which is pencilled in for November.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have to wait a year for a surgery when you\u2019re already feeling like shit for years and years and years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The numbers behind transgender healthcare in WA<\/p>\n
Perth Children\u2019s Hospital\u2019s Gender Diversity Service is the point of call for transgender youth in WA.<\/p>\n
The GDS, operated by the Child and Adolescent Health Service, offers outpatient services for children and adolescents up to 18 years old with persistent gender dysphoria, the psychological distress caused by a mismatch between a person\u2019s sex assigned at birth and their gender identity.<\/p>\n
The service \u2013 which can be accessed through referral by a general practitioner, paediatrician or other health professional \u2013 treats patients in two stages: puberty suppression treatment and hormone treatment.<\/p>\n
![\"\u201cIn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ece831ce0de3a2a7470436a881c20c576fb2baa9d394e5caa5976b053bfbea89.jpeg\")
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