Gender Affirming Care
Gender Affirming Care
Caltech is a place where all members of our community are welcomed and valued for their unique, individual identities. Our clinic strives to provide gender-affirming care to our students. We want to support you and provide you with a safe place to ask questions, search for answers, as well as provide you with the well-person physical exam, screening tests, and laboratory work that is needed.
Anyone can easily request a confidential phone visit with a provider. If you prefer, an in-person clinic visit is also available. The purpose of the visit is to assess how we can assist you in your next step.
Visit Types we offer:
Counseling - Individuals can experience dysphoria when living in a body and social role that is not congruent with their sense of self, as well as living in a society that can misunderstand and discriminate. We create a safe and therapeutic space so students can feel supported and affirmed for who they are.
Trans or questioning students seeking support can also contact Counseling Services for additional care for concerns related to the following (not exhaustive):
- Body dysmorphia
- Anxiety related to gender acceptance
- Coming out
- Gender dysphoria
- Adverse experiences like discrimination relating to gender identity
Gender affirmation consultation - We would like to explore your vision and understand what your goals are. We can do this either in person or over the phone depending on your comfort. We will provide you with medical consensus information on current medications, regimens, potential side effects, and medication interactions. All of this medical information, research, and recommendations will be available for you to peruse and contemplate.
Baseline physical health screening - In preparation for possible hormonal treatment, it is necessary to start with a routine physical exam, laboratory tests to assess health, and cancer screening.
Gender therapy planning - We would like to review your physical exam and laboratory results and assess the best way we can assist you in creating a hormone treatment plan that is safe for you and helps you fulfill the vision of who you are. This consultation can be done in person or over the phone. This can be one visit or several visits depending on your comfort.
Continuation of care - If you already have an ongoing hormone therapy plan, we can communicate with your prior health provider to provide you with convenient access to care at SWS. We recommend an initial visit for us to more easily help you transfer health records.
Self-injection - We can also teach you how to safely and easily do self-injections for your medications.
For more comprehensive services, we are currently referring students to St. John's Transgender Health Program and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. UCLA Gender Health Program also provides comprehensive gender health services to students.
- St. John's Well Child & Family Center - Transgender Health Program
- Los Angeles LGBT Center
- UCLA Gender Health Program
- Cedars-Sinai Transgender Surgery and Health Program
Planned Parenthood provides hormone replacement therapy at all locations.