Gender transition

Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the gender assigned to them at birth. It is the recommended course of treatment for individuals struggling with gender dysphoria, providing improved mental health outcomes in the majority of people.^[1]

A social transition may include coming out as transgender^[a], using a new name and pronouns, and changing one's public gender expression.^[2] This is usually the first step in a gender transition. People socially transition at almost any age^[3]^[4], as a social transition does not involve medical procedures. It can, however, be a prerequisite to accessing transgender healthcare in many places.^[5]^[6]

In transgender youth, puberty blockers are sometimes offered at the onset of puberty to allow the exploration of their gender identity without the distress^[7]^[8] of irreversible pubertal changes. Upon reaching the age of consent, they become eligible to pursue a medical transition if it is still desired.

A medical transition may include hormone replacement therapy (HRT), transgender voice therapy, and gender affirming surgeries. The ability to start a medical transition is typically offered after a diagnosis of gender dysphoria^[9], a form of medicalization. In recent years, there has been a push for an informed consent model of transgender healthcare which allows adults to access HRT without a formal diagnosis.^[10]

Transitioning is a process that can take anywhere from several months to several years. As a personal journey, there will never be a one-size-fits-all approach to transition.

^ Baker, Kellan E; Wilson, Lisa M; Sharma, Ritu; Dukhanin, Vadim; McArthur, Kristen; Robinson, Karen A (April 2021). "Hormone Therapy, Mental Health, and Quality of Life Among Transgender People: A Systematic Review". Journal of the Endocrine Society. 5 (4) (published 2 February 2021).
^ Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism – For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals Jossey-Bass: San Francisco ISBN 0-7879-6702-5
^ Kennedy, Natacha; Hellen, Mark (2010). "Transgender Children: more than a theoretical challenge" (PDF). Graduate Journal of Social Science.
^ Fabbre, Vanessa D. (2015). Gender Transitions in Later Life: The Significance of Time in Queer Aging. doi:10.4324/9781315731803-5/gender-transitions-later-life-significance-time-queer-aging-vanessa-fabbre (inactive 2024-07-22). ISBN 9781315731803.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2024 (link)
^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^ Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Johnson, Austin H. (2019). "Rejecting, reframing, and reintroducing: trans people's strategic engagement with the medicalisation of gender dysphoria". Sociology of Health & Illness. 41 (3): 517–532. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12829. ISSN 0141-9889.
^ Schulz, Sarah L. (2017-12-13). "The Informed Consent Model of Transgender Care: An Alternative to the Diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria". Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 58 (1). SAGE Publications: 72–92. doi:10.1177/0022167817745217. ISSN 0022-1678.

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[1] Baker, Kellan E; Wilson, Lisa M; Sharma, Ritu; Dukhanin, Vadim; McArthur, Kristen; Robinson, Karen A (April 2021). "Hormone Therapy, Mental Health, and Quality of Life Among Transgender People: A Systematic Review". Journal of the Endocrine Society. 5 (4) (published 2 February 2021).

[Brown&Rounsley-3] Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism – For Families, Friends, Coworkers, and Helping Professionals Jossey-Bass: San Francisco ISBN 0-7879-6702-5

[:33-4] Kennedy, Natacha; Hellen, Mark (2010). "Transgender Children: more than a theoretical challenge" (PDF). Graduate Journal of Social Science.

[:43-5] Fabbre, Vanessa D. (2015). Gender Transitions in Later Life: The Significance of Time in Queer Aging. doi:10.4324/9781315731803-5/gender-transitions-later-life-significance-time-queer-aging-vanessa-fabbre (inactive 2024-07-22). ISBN 9781315731803.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2024 (link)

[:5-6] Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:6-7] Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:7-8] Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:8-9] Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[j624-10] Johnson, Austin H. (2019). "Rejecting, reframing, and reintroducing: trans people's strategic engagement with the medicalisation of gender dysphoria". Sociology of Health & Illness. 41 (3): 517–532. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12829. ISSN 0141-9889.

[c152-11] Schulz, Sarah L. (2017-12-13). "The Informed Consent Model of Transgender Care: An Alternative to the Diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria". Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 58 (1). SAGE Publications: 72–92. doi:10.1177/0022167817745217. ISSN 0022-1678.

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