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Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity—their personal sense of their own gender—and their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender identity disorder (GID) in 2013 with the release of the diagnostic manual DSM-5. The condition was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.
The Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (SOC) is an international clinical protocol by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) outlining the recommended assessment and treatment for transgender and gender-diverse individuals across the lifespan including social, hormonal, or surgical transition. It often influences clinicians' decisions regarding patients' treatment. While other standards, protocols, and guidelines exist – especially outside the United States – the WPATH SOC is the most widespread protocol used by professionals working with transgender or gender-variant people.
A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identity or alleviates gender dysphoria.
Gender-affirming surgery for male-to-female transgender women or transfeminine non-binary people describes a variety of surgical procedures that alter the body to provide physical traits more comfortable and affirming to an individual's gender identity and overall functioning.
Gender dysphoria in children (GD), also known as gender incongruence of childhood, is a formal diagnosis for children who experience significant discontent due to a mismatch between their assigned sex and gender identity. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder in children (GIDC) was used by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until it was renamed gender dysphoria in children in 2013 with the release of the DSM-5. The diagnosis was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.
Sexuality in transgender individuals encompasses all the issues of sexuality of other groups, including establishing a sexual identity, learning to deal with one's sexual needs, and finding a partner, but may be complicated by issues of gender dysphoria, side effects of surgery, physiological and emotional effects of hormone replacement therapy, psychological aspects of expressing sexuality after medical transition, or social aspects of expressing their gender.
Masculinizing hormone therapy, also known as transmasculine hormone therapy or female-to-male hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy and gender affirming therapy which is used to change the secondary sexual characteristics of transgender people from feminine or androgynous to masculine. It is a common type of transgender hormone therapy, and is predominantly used to treat transgender men and other transmasculine individuals who were assigned female at birth. Some intersex people also receive this form of therapy, either starting in childhood to confirm the assigned sex or later if the assignment proves to be incorrect.
Feminizing hormone therapy, also known as transfeminine hormone therapy, is hormone therapy and sex reassignment therapy to change the secondary sex characteristics of transgender people from masculine or androgynous to feminine. It is a common type of transgender hormone therapy and is used to treat transgender women and non-binary transfeminine individuals. Some, in particular intersex people but also some non-transgender people, take this form of therapy according to their personal needs and preferences.
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.
Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, they differ in challenges compared to adults. According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, appropriate care for transgender youth may include supportive mental health care, social transition, and/or puberty blockers, which delay puberty and the development of secondary sex characteristics to allow children more time to explore their gender identity.
A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria may be treated with gender-affirming care.
Puberty blockers are medicines used to postpone puberty in children. The most commonly used puberty blockers are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which suppress the production of sex hormones, including testosterone and estrogen. In addition to their use in treating precocious puberty, which involves puberty occurring at an unusually early age in children, puberty blockers are also used for transgender children to delay the development of unwanted sex characteristics, so as to allow transgender youth more time to explore their gender identity.
Transgender hormone therapy, also called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), is a form of hormone therapy in which sex hormones and other hormonal medications are administered to transgender or gender nonconforming individuals for the purpose of more closely aligning their secondary sexual characteristics with their gender identity. This form of hormone therapy is given as one of two types, based on whether the goal of treatment is masculinization or feminization:
The real-life experience (RLE), sometimes called the real-life test (RLT), is a period of time or process in which transgender individuals live full-time in their identified gender role in order to be eligible to receive gender-affirming treatment. The purpose of the RLE has been to confirm that a given transgender person could function successfully as a member of said gender in society, as well as to confirm that they are sure they want to live as said gender for the rest of their life. A documented RLE was previously a requirement of many physicians before prescribing gender-affirming hormone therapy, and a requirement of most surgeons before performing gender-affirming surgery.
Transgender pregnancy is the gestation of one or more embryos or fetuses by transgender people. As of 2023, the possibility is restricted to those born with female reproductive systems. However, transition-related treatments may impact fertility. Transgender men and nonbinary people who are or wish to become pregnant face social, medical, legal, and psychological concerns. As uterus transplantations are currently experimental, and none have successfully been performed on trans women, they cannot become pregnant.
Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions, as well as sex reassignment therapies, for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world.
Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. The term is distinct from the concept of 'regret', and the decision may be based on a shift in gender identity, or other reasons, such as health concerns, social pressure, or discrimination and stigma.
Genspect is an international group founded in June 2021 by psychotherapist Stella O'Malley that has been described as gender-critical. Genspect is known for criticizing and opposing gender-affirming care, as well as social and medical transition for transgender people. Genspect opposes allowing transgender people under 25 years old to transition, and opposes laws that would ban conversion therapy on the basis of gender identity. Genspect also endorses the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), which proposes a subclass of gender dysphoria caused by peer influence and social contagion. ROGD has been rejected by major medical organisations due to its lack of evidence and likelihood to cause harm by stigmatizing gender-affirming care.
The Study of Transition, Outcomes, and Gender (STRONG) is a cohort study of health in transgender people before and during or after gender-affirming treatments such as gender-affirming hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery. It is being conducted at Kaiser Permanente sites in Northern California, Southern California, and Georgia and includes over 6,000 transgender people. The study was underway by 2015 and the first paper for the study was published in 2017. The STRONG cohort represents the largest cohort of transgender people studied to date and the first such large-scale study conducted in the United States.
Do-it-yourself (DIY) medicine is a phenomenon where people self-diagnose and/or self-treat medical conditions without the guidance of a medical professional.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Kennedy, Caitlin E.; Yeh, Ping Teresa; Byrne, Jack; van der Merwe, L. Leigh Ann; Ferguson, Laura; Poteat, Tonia; Narasimhan, Manjulaa (2022). "Self-administration of gender-affirming hormones: a systematic review of effectiveness, cost, and values and preferences of end-users and health workers". Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. 29 (3): 2045066. doi:10.1080/26410397.2022.2045066. ISSN 2641-0397. PMC 8942532 . PMID 35312467.
- ↑ Edenfield, Avery C.; Holmes, Steve; Colton, Jared S. (3 July 2019). "Queering Tactical Technical Communication: DIY HRT". Technical Communication Quarterly. 28 (3): 177–191. doi:10.1080/10572252.2019.1607906. S2CID 151159278.
- 1 2 Deutsch, Madeline B. (June 2016). "Evaluation of Patient-Oriented, Internet-Based Information on Gender-Affirming Hormone Treatments". LGBT Health. 3 (3): 200–207. doi:10.1089/lgbt.2015.0116. PMID 26829020.
- 1 2 Edenfield, Avery C. (January 2021). "Managing Gender Care in Precarity: Trans Communities Respond to COVID-19". Journal of Business and Technical Communication. 35 (1): 15–21. doi: 10.1177/1050651920958504 .
- ↑ Rotondi, Nooshin Khobzi; Bauer, Greta R.; Scanlon, Kyle; Kaay, Matthias; Travers, Robb; Travers, Anna (October 2013). "Nonprescribed Hormone Use and Self-Performed Surgeries: "Do-It-Yourself" Transitions in Transgender Communities in Ontario, Canada". American Journal of Public Health. 103 (10): 1830–1836. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301348. PMC 3780733 . PMID 23948009.
- ↑ Wexler, Abba (2022). "Mapping the Landscape of Do-it-Yourself Medicine". Citizen Science: Theory and Practice. 7 (1): 38. doi: 10.5334/cstp.553 . ISSN 2057-4991. PMC 9830450 . PMID 36632334.
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