What is the process to begin receiving gender-affirming care from health providers?

Every single major medical organization, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, supports the provision of age-appropriate, gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary people. These organizations represent millions of doctors, researchers and mental health professionals in the United States. Gender-affirming care has always existed and isn’t a new phenomenon – it’s just that in recent years, extremist politicians have made it into an issue for their own self-gain.

Clear, well-established, evidence-based standards of care exist for who can get gender-affirming care and when – and these standards have existed for ple, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) released their 8th Standards of Care for treating transgender patients. Both the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics have issued guidelines as well.

The process to access gender-affirming care can differ from state to state, and hospital to hospital, due to differences in state laws around who can access gender-affirming care, and when.