Electrolysis is the only method approved by the FDA for permanent removal of unwanted hair. As the hair is treated, regrowth is prevented rather than temporarily removed (like with laser). Only electrolysis provides both hair removal and hair elimination. However, after each session, the hair is merely traumatized. After the hair is repeatedly traumatized, it eventually does die, however this is after many hours (years) of costly, painful treatments. For it to work, a very fine probe is inserted into the hair follicle, an electric current zaps the hair, and the hair is removed with tweezers.

While electrolysis is sometimes covered for a planned transgender genital surgery, electrolysis/laser hair removal for any other part of the body is considered cosmetic and not covered. This is unfortunate, because a person's genitals are not a public-facing organ, while the skin on your face is. For a transgender woman, there is nothing "cosmetic" about it; trans activists and insurance companies alike need to rise up and fight for the removal of the "trans pink tax".

Transgender women and girls can feel terrified of imposing an increased economic burden on their parents. They may feel guilty for asking. They may not want to experience hours of pain. They may be intimidated by the financial cost, or have a fear of being degraded as vain. There is an emotional cost, unacknowledged by the pharmaceutical and health insurance industry, that can cause all trans girls to remain in the closet for a lot longer than their transmasculine counterparts. While much progress has been made in trans acceptance, the sad truth is trans women and girls are still largely abandoned to afford vital treatment alone, because the pharmaceutical and health insurance industry has no financial incentive to stand with them.

Transgender people usually want to be perceived and taken seriously as members of the gender class in which they feel most comfortable, yet due to the trans pink tax, transgender women generally have a harder time. Transsexual men are able to integrate into mainstream society through employment and social relationships more easily; their natural masculinity (enough by itself in many cases), combined with the external effects of testosterone (which allows them to grow hair painlessly), renders them virtually undetectable in most social situations. Cultural tolerance for a wide variety of adult male looks (appearance styles) and behaviors is also a factor in the success of many transitional men.

It is if you have dark hair and light skin, but even then it's not approved for permanent hair removal by the FDA. If you have dark hair and dark skin, or light hair and light skin, then laser hair removal becomes increasingly less effective, because the machine struggles to "read" the hair. Furthermore, the effects of laser have diminishing returns, which in turn might mean surgical complications. Most surprizingly, some hospitals will cover laser for genital surgery, even though it's not permanent. For them, it's the economical choice. For us, it's a sign they don't value our safety, security, or peace of mind.