Nearly 1 in 10 Trans Americans Use Non-Prescription Hormones

Nearly 1 in 10 transgender Americans are inclined to use non-prescription hormones when uninsured or denied by their insurance company.

What We Know:

• Gender-affirming hormones are a necessity in many of trans-American’s lives. If not taken under proper care, they can cause abrupt health issues. This risk does not stop the large population of the trans community that is unable to receive the proper medical care. The Annals of Family Medicine research published this month displayed an estimated 75,000 people using non-prescription hormones.
• In 2015 the U.S. Transgender Survey carried out the largest survey ever dedicated to the lives and experiences of trans people with almost 28,000 respondents. The survey listed its respondents as those who “identified as transgender, trans, genderqueer, non-binary, and other identities on the transgender identity spectrum, in order to encompass a wide range of transgender identities…” 78% of overall participants wished to receive hormone therapy-while only 49% ever had. Within that percentage, 95% of those who identified as a transgender man or woman revealed they wanted hormone therapy. 
• The trans community has never been a stranger to discrimination in society. Lack of insurance coverage is simply another way trans people are often overlooked. Numerous transgender Americans have shared their unfortunate experiences dealing with the healthcare system. The survey found 33% of respondents who were able to see a health care provider had negative outcomes due to being transgender. Cecilia Gentili, principal at Transgender Equity Consulting, shared with NBC News, “Every time I go to someone who’s not my doctor, I get misgendered, I get uncomfortable questions. So if I’m not dying, I’m not going to the doctor.”
• 14% of respondents were uninsured, compared to 11% of adults in the U.S. population. Even with insurance, their claims for gender-affirming hormones are frequently denied. Currently, only 24 states maintain explicit guidelines instructing private insurance companies to cover gender-affirming treatments, as stated by the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. Still, with insurance coverage, issues arise for trans people who sometimes must prove treatments are vital to their life.
• Too many uninsured and underinsured trans individuals are forced to take hormones from unlicensed sources putting their health in danger. The medication is meant to be regulated by a professional who controls dosages and checks the components of hormones ingested. Some hormone therapy increases the risk of having a stroke, heart problems, have been linked to blood clots in the lungs, and even breast cancer.

Lead author of this month’s Annal Family Medicine report and OB-GYN with Michigan Medicine, Dr. Daphna Stroumsa, told CNN “Health care systems and physicians and health care providers have so often failed trans people, either with direct discrimination or ignorance of trans people’s health care needs. We need to fix that.”