And even though I can play, this treatment is still discriminatory and exclusive because if I don't comply with those standards, I'm out of the team until the next time I'm tested. I don't think this is asked of any female footballer or any football player whatsoever; however, those tests are performed on me since I'm a transgender player.
This has emotional and physical consequences for me in the short, medium and long term. I feel different. I experience emotional changes like mood swings. The treatments also weaken me; I feel like they take my performance levels away from me, even muscle mass off me. It takes endurance away from me; I feel like get tired quicker and that I'm at a disadvantage compared to my teammates and opponents.
The treatment can also have long-term consequences --
it can increase the risk of breast cancer. Yet we had to agree to that so we could have one foot in the sport and, from within the system, begin to think about an inclusive professional football. That's what we are doing today: we're fighting and struggling to achieve inclusion.