(Please only respond if you're familiar with the NHS & UK Healthcare system, I appreciate the thought otherwise but I'm not looking for speculative approaches)

Hello r/NonBinary, I'm AMAB NB and after a 2 year long wait have had successful discussions with my local GIC and can pursue various options on the NHS. My main question is regarding options around oestrogen, I definitely want to go on it but definitely don't want cheest growth, I couldn't find many options for this online and was rather hoping the GIC would be accommodating to NB people when it finally came to it but after discussing with the psychiatrist I was meeting with they've basically told me that they do not offer options in conjunction with this (eg. raloxifene, breast tissue removal before hormones), though they did not explicitly state that and just said "there's no other options unless you get a masectomy on private healthcare later".

I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar scenario and has any advice or ideas? I'm meeting with an endocrinologist about starting the hormones next month but I'm still really apprehensive about it because of this one part of it. Most people I've spoken to have just been saying "see how it goes, maybe you won't get much growth" but I'm aware it's very unpredictable and would be quite a permanent change that won't just go back if I stop hormones because I decide the growth is too much. I'm okay trying binders but I'd much rather avoid the growth all together, especially because if it's particularly large growth a binder will have quite limited effect.

I find it really unfortunate and kind of unfair of the GICs to have such an asymmetric and single-direction system because if I were AFAB I could attain the goals I want by getting top surgery and be done with most things (and I'm sure there are AFAB NBs who would have an easier time attaining their goals starting AMAB too).

What options do I realistically have? Do you think it's worth explicitly asking about raloxifene or having breast tissue removed prior to starting oestrogen?

Thank you in advance all.