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Gender-Affirming Care

Planned Parenthood's gender-affirming care is rooted in respect, informed by your goals, and delivered by a team that sees you fully. No judgment, no gatekeeping, no pressure to be anywhere other than where you are.

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What is Gender-Affirming Care?

Gender-affirming care is health care that recognizes and supports who you are. At PPMNJ, we're proud to offer hormone therapy to transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive patients, but it never stops there. It's woven into everything we do. Your annual exam, your birth control, your STI testing, your cancer screenings, all of it delivered by a team that starts from the same place: your name, your pronouns, and your identity are the truth we build your care around.

You Belong Here, Exactly As You Are

Whether you're just starting to ask questions, ready to begin hormone therapy, or years into your transition and looking for a provider who finally gets it right, you're in the right place. Come as you are. Ask us anything. Our team is here for you. There's no version of your gender you need to have figured out before you walk through our doors.

Your Care, Handled With Care

We'll build your plan together, grounded in safe, effective, science-based care and centered on what you're hoping to achieve. We'll talk through what to expect, check in on how you're actually feeling at every visit. This is more than just your labs, and adjusting dosages as we go, because this is your life we're working with, not a protocol we're running. This is a relationship, not a prescription pad.

We're Ready When You Are

Your first step is a conversation with a dedicated Patient Navigator, someone whose whole job is walking you through what comes next, answering your questions, and building a plan that's actually yours.

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Got Some Questions? We Have Answers.

What kinds of questions will I be asked throughout the process?

Nothing you need to prepare for. Your navigator and provider will ask about your health history, enough to make sure hormone therapy is safe for your body specifically. They'll also want to understand your journey: how long you've known, whether you've been on hormones before, who you've told and who you haven't, and who's in your corner right now.

Above all, they're trying to understand what your goals are, so the plan we build together is the best for you.

Do I need a referral or a letter from a therapist to start hormone therapy?

No. PPMNJ uses an informed consent model, which means you don't need a letter from a mental health provider to begin. Our team will talk through your goals with you, review your health history, and make sure you have all the information you need to make the decision that's right for you.

Do I have to come to the health center every time, or can some visits be virtual?

After speaking with our dedicated Patient Navigator, your initial appointment must be in person. Once you're established with us, many follow-ups can happen by telehealth, if that works for you. Keep in mind: you'll still need to come to a health center for assessment, or if your provider requests it.

Is gender-affirming care/hormone therapy available for minors?

No. We currently provide gender-affirming hormone therapy to patients 18 and older. If you're under 18 and looking for support, we're happy to help point you toward resources built for your age group.

What if I'm not on hormones yet and I'm just starting to explore?

That's exactly what this care is for. You can come to us to ask questions, learn about your options, and take as much time as you need before deciding on next steps. We're here to ensure you have all of the information you need to get the affirming-care you deserve.

I'm not transitioning in a "typical" way. Do you still see people like me?

Yes, fully. Gender-affirming care here isn't one path with one endpoint. It might mean starting, pausing, and adjusting as you learn more about what feels right, or no medical intervention at all, just a provider who uses your name and pronouns and treats the rest of your health with the same respect. Whatever that looks like for you is the plan we'll build.

How can I pay for gender-affirming hormone therapy? Does insurance cover this?

Many insurance plans, including NJ Family Care (Medicaid), cover gender-affirming hormone therapy. When you reach out to us, our Navigation team will help you figure out if yours does.

If your plan doesn't cover it, or you don't have insurance at all, we offer sliding-scale fees based on income, the same as we do for every service we provide. Remember: our team is committed to getting you access to the care you deserve, and we'll do everything we can to make that happen.

With everything happening around trans rights right now, is it safe for me to start care?

If you're feeling anxious, scared, or unsure, we get it. You're watching a lot of people in power try to legislate you out of existence, and it's exhausting to have to ask whether basic health care is safe before you can even think about what care you actually need. Let us be clear: Gender-affirming care is still safe, legal, and accessible in New Jersey.

New Jersey has built real legal protections for people who receive or provide gender-affirming care here, including safeguards against another state trying to investigate, prosecute, or extradite someone over care you receive in New Jersey.

Every conversation is 100% confidential and stays between you and your care team. Your medical records are protected under the same privacy laws as any other healthcare visit, and nothing about your gender-affirming care gets shared without your permission, not with family, not with an employer, not with another state trying to reach across its border. Full stop.

You can read the full breakdown on the state's official page linked here.

I think I'm ready to start care. What are my next steps? How do I get started?

You'll first connect with our dedicated gender-affirming care Patient Navigator, whose whole job is walking you through what comes next. They'll ask about your goals, answer whatever you're wondering about, and help figure out together whether this is the right fit for you, before anything else happens. If our services are a good fit, the Navigator will schedule your first appointment for you, which will happen at one of our four health centers in East Orange, Montclair, Newark, or Paterson.

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Our Promise to You, No Matter What

This past year, in the face of relentless, coordinated attacks on trans health care and trans existence, we expanded hormone therapy to four of our five health centers. We welcomed more transgender and nonbinary patients than ever before, and new gender-affirming care visits grew more than fivefold. While lawmakers work to legislate you out of existence and strip away your rights, we did the opposite: we grew. We opened more doors, not fewer. That is not an accident. It is a decision we make every day, and we are not backing down from it now. You are not a statistic, and you are not alone. No law, no lie, and no loud campaign of cruelty can undo the simple truth: you deserve care, and we will always be here to provide it, no matter what.

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