Barriers to Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Individuals

Abstract

Gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy, “top” (e.g., chest reconstruction surgery) and “bottom” (e.g., vaginoplasty, phalloplasty, metoidioplasty, etc.) surgeries, and puberty blockers, is an efficacious treatment of gender dysphoria for transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals. However, many TGNC people encounter significant barriers in accessing gender-affirming care, which we detail via results from on online study. Participants included 256 TGNC individuals (78.9% White, ages 16–73, Mage = 28.4). Among participants, 61.3% were receiving hormone therapy, 22.7% had undergone top surgery, and 5.5% had undergone bottom surgery. Open-ended responses (n = 201) were thematically analyzed and common barriers included finances and insurance issues, a lack of service availability, and fears or worries. Participants reported various systemic issues and incidents of bias within medical and mental health fields, as well as a lack of medical provider awareness and education. Other themes were interpersonal barriers (e.g., fears of rejection); age and need of parental consent for minors; other medical issues; and a lack of information about how to acquire care. These findings can be utilized to educate professionals in medical and mental health fields about barriers their TGNC patients may encounter in receiving affirming care and suggest a number of ways to improve access to these services.