---

title: 'My experience with Dr Caran Cheung, Mascot Medical, NSW (MtNB)'
description: "Post I originally put on Reddit about the process of starting feminising HRT through Caran Cheung at Mascot Medical"
date: '23-02-2024'
id: 0
tags: 'Queerness'
hidden : true

---

This post was originally posted in the r/transgenderau subreddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/transgenderau/comments/1axl4pz/my_experience_with_dr_caran_cheung_mascot_medical/ but I've deciided to make a copy of it here for archival and as an alternative to reddit :3

---

When deicing which doctor to use for starting hrt I found it really helpful to be able to read about other people experiences with particular doctors, that was one of the things that helped me decide to speak to Dr Caran Cheung at Mascot Medical when I wanted to properly start my medical transition a few weeks ago. Now that the process is complete and I had my first dose yesterday, I want to give back by detailing me experience with her :)



The first appointment was about 40 minutes long but this was made a little bit longer since we had to go over alot of the basic medical history questions. Once those were out of the way we talked about how I wanted to start gender affirming hormones under the informed consent model, my goals and the effects of feminizing hrt.

Since my goals mostly focus on the mental effects of hrt (I currently see the psychical effects as a bonus but not the main thing) we determined that a low dose of Cypro and Estrogen would be most suitable for me. As another user mentioned in their post (https://www.reddit.com/r/transgenderau/comments/xz897n/hrt\_with\_dr\_caran\_cheung/) Dr Caran did ask me about some of my mental health history but I agree that it did not feel cold or uncaring (I'm not even sure if asking about it is a choice for them, is it possible that they just have to make sure were in a stable mental position to start hrt?).

At the end of the appointment she gave me a copy of the patient information and consent form (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d8c2136980d9708b9ba5cd3/t/5e7a65dce1294b32cd6929d3/1585079773283/Informed+Consent\_Feminising+Hormone+Therapy\_TH2019.pdf) aswell as a slip to take to Laverty pathology for a blood test (note it did require fasting so I did it the next morning)



12 days later the blood test results were returned and I had my second appointment. Caran walked me though the meanings of each section of results and how we will be targeting certain values with the hrt, All the blood test results were clear for me so we were able to move forward quickly.

She took a couple more baseline measurements of my weight and height before we had another talk - in more detail this time - about goals and the permanent/reversible effects and risks of hrt. She also answered any additional questions I had about the drugs and the process. Once that was done I filled out the consent form and we moved onto the prescribing!

Since I wanted to at least start things slowly she prescribed a quarter cypro tablet every 2 days and 1 pump of estrogel (0.75mg estradiol) per day but also included enough in the prescription such that if I choose to I can increase the dose myself to 2 pumps per day, the prescriptions were delivered by email but she also offered SMS or physical copies. Finally she gave me another slip for a blood test at the 3 month mark for our next check-in!



After the appointment I had the two scripts and was able to fulfill them at the Priceline Pharmacy that is right next-door to the medical practice. So finally I had everything I needed to start my medical transition :D



# Time

The entire process for booking the 1st appointment to receiving the prescriptions took 13 days! Its worth noting that I was able to get an appointment for the very next day when I was booking and also that I might have been able to shorten the time even more if I had called up earlier to check if they had received the blood test results



# Cost

Each appointment was classed as a "Long Consultation" which was $150 or $70.30 after the Medicare rebate, additionally if you have a Centrelink HCC you can get a further discount on the fees of about $25

At the next-door Priceline the bottles of estrogel were $34.95 each (lasts about 1-2 months depending on dosage, not covered by PBS) and the Cyproterone was $6.70 (enough for more than 2 years at current dosage)



# Other Notes

* As mentioned in the time section I didn't receive any call or message to alert me that the blood test results had been returned, you might want to start checking after 2-3 business days if you want to make the process as fast as possible
* For some reason they weren't able to give me the HCC discount for the first appointment, I never really pushed to know why but after making sure they had my HCC details I had no issues with it for the second appointment
* Mascot medical is located really nicely just a couple minutes walk from Mascot train station
* During both visits the whole shopping area where mascot medical was had very poor mobile data connection, this made accessing the prescriptions (from my email) and my digital wallet rather tricky, you may want to consider a different format for the prescriptions if this continues to be the case



Overall I had a really good experience with Dr Caran and highly recommend her for anyone else looking to start hrt! happy to answer questions if i missed anything, good luck out there!

---

# Notes since original post (11/04/2025)
Theres a few little updates and changes that I'll mention here:
- Just passed one year and things are going really well :3
- Estrogen Gel is now available much cheaper if you have a health care card since it has been added to PBS
If you'd liek to ask any questions, feel free to message me on bluesky or anywhere you can find me