Gender-affirming care refers to medical, psychological, and social support provided to individuals

whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

The core objective of gender-affirming care is to aid these individuals in mitigating the distress

and discomfort caused by gender dysphoria, which is a disparity

between their gender identity and their assigned sex at birth.

This care framework also strives to enhance their holistic well-being and mental health.

In this podcast, we will focus on helping clinicians understand the basics

of gender-affirming care as they work with families around issues of gender dysphoria.

This is another episode from the child psychiatry team. I'm Dr. Josh Fader, the editor-in-chief of the Carlet Child Psychiatry Report and co-author of the second edition of the Child

Medication Fact Book for Psychiatric Practice now available in 2023.

And I'm Mary Government, a licensed clinical social worker in Southern California with a private practice and an avid reader of the Carlet Psychiatry Reports.

As Dr. Fader mentioned earlier, gender affirming care, often referred to as GAC, is a multifaceted approach that clinicians can extend to patients seeking a gender

expression that diverges from their assigned sex. However, it's essential to understand that gender

affirming care isn't confined to a singular procedure or methodology, it encompasses a spectrum of

interventions that span from social transitions like changes in attire and grooming to hormone

treatments that can either postpone the development of secondary sex traits or facilitate the emergence

of traits associated with a different gender.

Additionally, there are surgical options that can significantly alter gender expression.

These procedures encompass diverse possibilities such as electrolysis, facial and

tracheal cosmetic surgeries, mastectomy, phelectomy, vaginaloplasty, and phalloplasty.

But it's important to avoid viewing these treatments as strictly binary outcomes.

Patients often harbor preferences for specific interventions

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