Transgender Medicine

Transgender medicine is concerned with people who experience

gender incongruence

or

dysphoria

and associate themselves with the gender opposite to which they were born with. The patient may wish to physically change through a form of

hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

and/or

sex reassignment surgery

. Transgender medicine requires a multidisciplinary approach involving multiple specialists including

psychiatrists

,

endocrinologists

and

gender assignment surgeons

. An

endocrinologist

monitors the HRT administered to the patient. HRT for transgender women include estrogen medication and androgen lowering medication. This results in breast growth, reduction of facial and body hair as well as fat redistribution a female pattern. HRT for transgender males includes

testosterone therapy

, which results in the deepening of the voice, facial and body hair growth and breast reduction. HRT treatment is generally lifelong.
Sex reassignment surgery or gender affirming surgeries are performed by a small number of trained surgeons. These surgeries include

breast augmentation

for transgender women,

breast reconstruction

for trans men,

hysterectomy

,

salpingo-oophorectomy

,

orchidectomy

and gender affirming

genital surgery

.