Gender Affirming Medical Treatments

Health care is often considered to be a basic human right. Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people often experience challenges in accessing culturally competent medical care. This entry begins with a discussion of the need to improve training for medical providers. This is followed by a brief description of the hormone treatment and surgical care often provided to TGNC people. It then explores the concept of medical necessity. Finally, the entry describes informed consent and harm reduction models for care.

Before addressing these areas, it is important for the reader to understand that the American Medical Association and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health have made statements about not pathologizing a person’s gender identity. These statements address a long history of mistreatment of TGNC people ...