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Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy

Planned Parenthood of Illinois is proud to provide gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) to transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive folks.

GAHT services are available at all 17 PPIL health centers statewide and via telehealth.

Gender-affirming care goes far beyond just hormone therapy. We are committed to providing high-quality, respectful, compassionate care to transgender individuals in all of our services, including abortion, sexual and reproductive health care, and behavioral health support.

Gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is tailored to the individual based on their medical history and transition goals. Generally speaking, hormone therapy can be broken into two categories:

Feminizing therapy

Blocking natural testosterone production in the body through anti-androgen medications (spironolactone, finasteride, dutasteride) and adding estrogen and/or progesterone to induce breast growth, skin softening, fat redistribution and emotional/psychological changes to better align with one’s gender identity.

Masculinizing therapy

Adding testosterone to induce facial and body hair growth, voice changes, fat redistribution, stopping monthly periods, and emotional/psychological changes to better align with one’s gender identity.

Your First Appointment

Arrive at the health center and check-in

When you arrive for your appointment, you will answer some questions and fill out some additional paperwork for your medical record.

We want to affirm you at every step of the process, so please let us know what you would like to be called, even if it’s different from your legal name. If necessary, we will keep your legal name on file for insurance and prescriptions.

Meet with a Reproductive Health Assistant to review your medical history

A Reproductive Health Assistant will take you back into the exam room to complete your initial intake. They will ask you questions about your medical history, including whether you’ve ever been on hormones before or if you’d had any surgeries.

We only ask questions that are relevant to your care with us and you are welcome to skip any questions you don’t want to answer.

Meet with your provider to discuss your goals and begin treatment

Your provider will review your intake and medical history and discuss your transition goals with you. Together, you will review PPIL’s Informed Consent and your provider will answer any questions you have. Once you sign the consent, your provider will send your medication to your preferred pharmacy and it should be available that same day.*

If you’re interested in birth control, STI screening, HIV prevention (PrEP) or other services at PPIL, let your provider know and they may be able to add them to your visit that day.

* Some insurance companies require additional paperwork and information to be submitted for certain GAHT medications which may delay when you can pick up your medication, and might limit what medications you can get using insurance. Meeting with our Behavioral Health team prior to your first clinical appointment can help this process go more quickly and more smoothly. Some pharmacies may not keep certain GAHT medications in stock and will have to special order them which may delay pick-up.

Meet with our Behavioral Health team (optional)

When you schedule your first GAHT appointment, you have the option to also schedule an appointment with a member of our Behavioral Health team.

This optional appointment is an opportunity to provide additional information to your care team that may be required for prescription or surgical authorizations by your insurance. This appointment also provides you with additional time for questions and gives our Behavioral Health team a chance to share valuable resources with you, including information on legal name and gender marker changes, information about local surgeons, the process for getting approved for surgery, and updating legal documents such as passports, birth certificates, and state IDs.

Our Behavioral Health team can also provide mental health support and resources, if desired.

Return for follow-up care

In your first year of care, you should plan for 4 visits, with blood work:

  • your first appointment,
  • a 3-month follow-up,
  • a 6-month follow-up, and
  • a 12-month follow-up.

Frequency of visits may change based on your medical history, your medications, and the results of your blood tests.