Gender Affirming Care

FAQs

  • Yes.

    We go over what changes are permanent, as well as what is not. We go over what to expect when, and expectations for labs and follow up. We go over how hormones might interact with your specific health conditions. You can ask questions to your heart’s content.

    Our consent forms are sourced from Fenway Health Center in Boston.

  • That depends. We need baseline labs first, so usually can’t prescribe on the first visit. Hormones can affect blood cell counts, kidney function, and electrolytes so we want to know what your normal is before prescribing. That way if your future labs are quirky, we can know if it’s the HT or something else. It super stinks to have to stop hormones to figure that out.

    If the labs are abnormal in some way, or if you have a complicating health condition, that’s not a hard no on hormone prescribing. It just means we might have some figuring to do so we can move forward the safest way possible. The only absolute contraindications to hormone prescribing are hormone dependent cancer and pregnancy.

  • We reference the UCSF Gender Affirming Health Program’s Guidelines and WPATH. The original protocol also referenced guidance from Callen-Lorde in NYC and Gender Health San Francisco.

  • Jo Bauer ARNP accidentally founded a gender affirming care program at a large community health center in 2015. There was a need, and one thing led to another. She has been honored to walk several hundred patients through gender transitions. She has given lectures at a couple conferences and taught nurse practitioner and physician residents about hormone prescribing.

  • You can go to any Quest Lab. If there isn’t one accessible to you let us know.

  • As of now, no. For people on testosterone maybe starting in 2025. In the long run it depends what the DEA decides to do with schedule III drugs and telehealth.

  • 18. Legal consent for minors is complicated. Please consider Seattle Children’s or Mary Bridge in Tacoma. Cedar River (also on the west side of the mountains) might also take care of the under 18s. Queerdoc does via telehealth, though they do not accept insurance.