What is Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy and where can trans individuals consult? | Need to Know - video Dailymotion

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Ano ang Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy na kilala rin bilang HRT? Safe kaya ito at saan kaya puwedeng kumonsulta ang mga gustong mag transition?  Here’s what you #NeedToKnow!

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00:00Do you know what Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy or GAT is?

00:03Is it safe?

00:05And where can people who want to transition consult?

00:08Here's what you need to know.

00:14GAT is a treatment for trans or gender-expansive individuals

00:18who want to transition from being a man into a woman

00:21or a woman into a man using medications.

00:24It is also known as HRT or Hormone Replacement Therapy.

00:28Hormone therapy is one of the solutions to fight gender dysphoria

00:33or the discomfort that trans individuals feel

00:36because their gender identity is not aligned with their sex assigned at birth.

00:41By transitioning, their physical body will match their gender identity.

00:47That's why I transitioned because I really wanted to match my gender identity

00:52or my physical appearance to my gender identity.

00:56When I look at myself in the mirror,

00:59I wonder why I look like this,

01:01why I don't look like a girl compared to my sister or my cousins.

01:06Growing up, I was insecure about them

01:08because they had long hair.

01:10I would watch them change their bodies

01:14from being a kid to a woman or to a young lady.

01:18And I really wanted that to happen to me.

01:20Like, why is it like that?

01:22Sometimes, I would ask myself why I look like this

01:26and I wouldn't be like them.

01:28We have two types of gender-affirming hormone therapy.

01:32Feminizing hormone therapy and masculinizing hormone therapy.

01:36This life-changing transition allows individuals to live authentically and confidently.

01:41Manifestation is real, mga te!

01:43If you're transitioning from male to female,

01:46feminizing hormone therapy is done.

01:48Finally, with transgender women,

01:51what we do is we raise their estrogen levels

01:55to match their physical appearance to their gender identity.

02:01With that, we do either oral estrogen,

02:04injectable estrogen, patches or creams.

02:08If they choose, because there are some who don't,

02:12if they choose, we can also give them anti-androgen

02:16so that we can lessen the effects of testosterone

02:20and we can also lessen the testosterone levels.

02:24The goal of feminizing hormone therapy

02:26is to increase the feminine characteristics of a person

02:29such as the size of the boobs

02:31and the slow growth or thinning of the hair on the face and body.

02:35When transitioning from female to male,

02:37masculinizing hormone therapy is done.

02:40With transgender men,

02:42in gender-affirming hormone therapy,

02:44what we do is easier for them

02:47because we just inject testosterone

02:51or just apply patches, testosterone patches.

02:56Unfortunately, testosterone patch is not available here in the Philippines

03:01or in Asia in general.

03:03So what we recommend for transgender men is testosterone injections.

03:08It's easier for transgender men

03:10as compared to transgender women

03:12who are more likely to be injected.

03:15In masculinizing hormone therapy,

03:17the masculine characteristics of a person will increase

03:20such as the deepening of the voice,

03:22the increase of body and facial hair,

03:23and the cessation of the menstrual cycle.

03:26However, a friendly reminder that transitioning

03:30also involves some possible risks.

03:32Gap comes with a lot.

03:36But the most common health risks,

03:39especially if you are doing that by yourself

03:42and not medically supervised by a doctor

03:44or an endocrinologist who is trained in transgender health,

03:48you may have cardiovascular problems,

03:51heart problems,

03:52you may end up getting stroke,

03:54hypertension,

03:56increased cholesterol levels,

03:58increased lipid levels in the body.

04:01You can also get gallstones,

04:03especially for transgender women,

04:05gallstones are common.

04:08I think those are just some.

04:10But if it's medically supervised,

04:12we know that the patient is still young.

04:16So I think it's better

04:19if you try to seek help

04:22from a transgender health physician

04:26or someone or an endocrinologist

04:28who is trained in transgender health.

04:31According to the checklist of Johns Hopkins Medicine,

04:34including the needs to look at

04:36the start of gender-affirming hormones

04:38is the health condition of an individual.

04:41Because of that,

04:42the guidance of a medical professional

04:45in the whole process of transition

04:47and its maintenance is extra important.

04:49Without medical supervision,

04:51people are at risk

04:52for severe long-term health complications

04:56which could be prevented with proper monitoring.

04:59Now, some people,

05:01if they take too many hormones

05:05and it affects their body,

05:06it could also result to irreversible damages.

05:10We have a lot of trans individuals

05:13in the Philippines who self-medicate.

05:15Actually, most of my patients who come to me

05:18have already been taking hormones

05:21for quite some time.

05:22I notice that their blood pressure is a bit high,

05:27they get headaches, mood changes.

05:31To make sure that the facts about gut are true,

05:34what are the misconceptions about it?

05:37Number one,

05:37that you're only going to do this once.

05:39No, it is a process.

05:41You can't use shortcuts.

05:43Shortcuts are prohibited

05:44because you can't do it overnight.

05:46Are you Cinderella?

05:47You're suddenly a woman.

05:49No, it is a process.

05:51Transitioning can also be

05:54without gender-affirming hormone therapy.

05:57That's one of the biggest misconceptions.

05:59You need to take hormones

06:01to become a trans person.

06:04You can be a trans person

06:05because that is your affinity,

06:08that is your preference,

06:09that is what you feel and who you feel you are.

06:16Hormone therapy is solely about physical appearance.

06:19There are a lot of people

06:20who think that they are gay

06:23and then eventually they felt like they are non-binary

06:27and then they realized that they are trans

06:30because our soul, GSC, is fluid.

06:34It goes and changes by time

06:36until you fully am empowered

06:39and you realize and get to know yourself better.

06:41So don't be afraid to explore

06:44and determine and accept who you are

06:47and it's an ongoing process.

06:49And last but not least,

06:50a lot of people think that hormones

06:53can be taken as vitamins

06:56without a prescription.

06:58That's one of our biggest misconceptions.

07:02It's very important

07:04that if you are taking gender-affirming hormone therapy,

07:07you should have medical supervision.

07:10Aside from Love Yourself,

07:11you can also consult with organizations

07:14that are willing to transition

07:15like TransHealth Philippines,

07:17Philippine Professional Association

07:19for Transgender Health,

07:20and PULSE.

07:21It is important to seek medical guidance

07:25because for you to be healthy,

07:28one of the key points

07:30that I like to get across to my patients

07:34is that you should be healthy,

07:36safe,

07:37and supervised

07:40so that you can be informed of the effects

07:43and you know what to do

07:45whenever you encounter

07:48or whatever things to watch out for

07:52when you're taking gender-affirming hormone therapy.

07:54That's how you can seek help.

07:56As of now,

07:57the government has no guidelines for GAT.

08:00But in 2021,

08:02the Philippine General Hospital

08:04Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

08:06launched their Division of Sexual Health Unit.

08:09One of its goals

08:11is to promote trans healthcare

08:13as part of the banning of morbidities

08:15or diseases that may be a result

08:18of gender-affirming treatments.

08:20The struggles that I experienced,

08:22first and foremost,

08:23is the lack of access

08:25when it comes to trans healthcare.

08:27We still don't know the idea

08:29of endocrinologists

08:31that they can help people like me.

08:34In terms of medically transition,

08:36it's possible that if this hasn't been addressed,

08:40probably,

08:41we wouldn't be in danger

08:43of the life of a transgender individual

08:46just because she or he wanted to live authentically.

08:50In June 2024,

08:52the Quezon City Government

08:54launched the QCSTARS,

08:55or Strategic Trans Health Access

08:57to Resources and Services Program.

08:59It will provide free hormone counseling,

09:02assessment,

09:03and management for transgender Filipinos.

09:07One of the biggest challenges

09:08of the entire Philippines

09:09when it comes to trans health

09:10is the unavailability of trans health services

09:14in terms of the localities

09:17and the cities and the provinces.

09:19Right now,

09:20most people who provide trans health

09:22are NGOs or private institutions.

09:25Hopefully, Philippine Health Insurance

09:27can also create a comprehensive program

09:30for transgender individuals

09:32so that we can also provide

09:33affirmative care for them.

09:35And lastly,

09:36when it comes to policy,

09:38one of the biggest challenges

09:39why there's no provision for support

09:42for trans people

09:43is that there is no legal gender recognition

09:46for trans people.

09:47So hopefully,

09:48in the near future,

09:49we could also create

09:50legal gender recognition

09:52for trans individuals.

09:54Friendly reminder,

09:56a person can identify as trans

09:58even if they didn't undergo hormone therapy.

10:00It's not just the physical appearance

10:02that matters to our gender identity.

10:04We're in a transphobia!

10:19Transcribed by https://otter.ai

What is Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy and where can trans individuals consult? | Need to Know

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