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Dear DeeDee, May I ask, is Scotland going through snowstorms/blizzards and/or the COVID-19 pandemic at this time? Are other transgender people having the same difficulties as you, and how are they addressing it? Try to make slow but steady progress during these trying times. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Yours truly, Monica

Hi Monica, Scotland has it's usual stormy winter weather, rain, ice, sleet and snow, but our coverage is rarely more than a few inches and we are used to 40-50 mph winds. The whole of Scotland is in Lockdown and all non essential shops which includes gyms and spas have been closed since March last year. There are little to no face to face appointments with anyone at the moment, so everyone is facing the same delays. The only way to get on HRT quickly is to pay privately and I am simply not in a place to go down that route. However the lack of centres and routes is not a covid issue but a government funding one. Every working age person in the UK contributes to a National insurance plan which covers free healthcare for all, but the Conservative government has been doing its best to sell it off piecemeal and privatise the service for years so they regularly underfund it and then point out the waiting times as its failure... Grr. I am excited to be starting to move forwards though