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The context, science and practice of gender-affirming care

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 2464–2467 (2022)Cite this article

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Gender-affirming care for transgender and gender diverse people should be inclusive, community led and evidence informed to support mental health and wellbeing.

Gender-affirming care is the provision of health services to support a person’s process of living and being perceived in alignment with their own gender identity and expression. A lack of gender-affirming care relegates a person to live and be perceived based on societal expectations related to the sex assigned at birth. The field of gender-affirming care has evolved substantially in the past century and consists of several key components, including psychological, social, legal, medical and surgical affirmation. Gender affirmation requires inclusive and culturally responsive healthcare environments, as well as broader policies and laws that support and protect gender diversity locally, nationally and globally.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Alex S. Keuroghlian

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Alex S. Keuroghlian

  3. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Alex S. Keuroghlian

  4. Innovative Response Globally for Transgender Women and HIV, Oakland, CA, USA

    JoAnne Keatley

  5. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Simran Shaikh

  6. Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, New York, NY, USA

    Asa E. Radix

Authors
  1. Alex S. Keuroghlian
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  2. JoAnne Keatley
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  3. Simran Shaikh
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  4. Asa E. Radix
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alex S. Keuroghlian.

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Competing interests

A.S.K. declares royalties as editor of a McGraw Hill textbook on transgender and gender diverse healthcare. All other authors declare no competing interests.

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Keuroghlian, A.S., Keatley, J., Shaikh, S. et al. The context, science and practice of gender-affirming care. Nat Med 28, 2464–2467 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02082-w

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