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What Is Involved In Transgender Health Services

By Marissa Velazquez


Today, the term transgender is most used by people who feel that they belong to a gender that they were not assigned at birth. Some trans people use hormones or even go through surgeries to feel more comfortable with their body. The number of this class of people is growing on a daily basis and the debate goes on how to best handle them and accommodate them in the society. Thanks to transgender health program, this provides a holistic approach to individual well being. This ranges from behavioral wellbeing to violence recovery program to substance abuse among others.

We know that the male body is made differently from a female body since they were each designed to perform different roles. Therefore, a man seeking the woman body commonly known as a transwoman has to go through a process where hormones are replaced. This process requires a competent expert since it can lead to adverse effects if not handled properly. The hormone replacement therapy is used to alter the secondary sexual characteristics.

Estrogen and testosterone are two hormones that bring the distinction between a male and a female. Men have higher levels of testosterone than females. Women on the other hand have higher levels of estrogen than their male counterparts. So a man wanting to transform into a woman will undergo a treatment aimed at increasing the levels of estrogen so as to have almost same quantity as those in an individual born a female. This hormone brings out most of the feminine characteristics such as menstrual cycle, moods and libido.

Progesterone is given to a transwoman to effect changes like skin appearance, sexual urge and breast development. Some people also undergo surgery to transform their breasts. This has to be done carefully to ensure that mammary glands and alveoli are developing as they should.

To be able to deal with the hormone testosterone, anti-androgens are introduced. This is important to suppress the testosterone especially before the client can go for a surgery for sexual reassignment and still has his testicles. The introduced anti- androgen does not stop the production of the unwanted hormone, but it is rendered weak to enable the estrogen to bind with the androgen receptors in its place.

It is good to know that hormone replacement therapy cannot reverse the changes experienced by an individual during puberty. For instance, the location of body hair will require another procedure to deal with. This will diminish slowly over time with the falling levels of testosterone in the body. There are many other changes like the bone size and length which reaches the DNA predestined size at puberty.

Therapeutic procedure is not enough for one to experience a complete change. One has to undergo surgery to change the sex organ to the desired gender. This procedure is quite delicate and requires a lot of expertise for optimum functionality of the organ after the surgery.

You will agree that we cannot segregate this people since they are in our midst as family members and friends therefore we should be accommodative and provide good transgender health care to them. Stigmatization may push them to the edge leaving them with no option other than seeking health care from non professionals thus risking their lives. They can also explore herbal options to fulfill their dreams.




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