HRT (hormone replacement therapy) informed consent is the process where a medical provider and patient discuss hormone therapy, its effects, risks and benefits to determine if HRT is right for the patient. With informed consent, the patient is provided information to understand the treatment and make an informed personal decision without barriers like required letters from therapists or minimum time living as one's gender identity.
Key aspects:
- Patient education: The patient is educated on effects, risks, benefits, and options for HRT to understand the treatment at an individual level. This empowers patients to give fully informed consent.
- Shared decision making: The patient and provider discuss goals, concerns, medical history and lifestyle to jointly decide if HRT meets the patient's needs and aligns with their priorities.
- Access: Barrier-free access enables start of HRT when a patient determines it's right for them rather than being subject to delays for assessments. This reduces dysphoria.
- Monitoring: Follow-up tests during HRT enables adjustment of medications if needed to meet treatment goals and manage health risks.
Benefits
HRT informed consent offers significant benefits:
- Reduces gender dysphoria and supports social and medical transition
- Validates patient autonomy and choice
- Provides barrier-free access to alleviate delays
- Customizable treatment plans to meet patient goals
- Shared decision making improves patient satisfaction
Considerations
While increasingly common, HRT informed consent has considerations:
- Not universally accepted by all providers
- May have higher risks without comprehensive screening
- Needs patient willingness for required follow-ups
- Patient must educate themselves on effects and risks
Luckily, clinics like
Optimal Hormone Health Center specialize in transfeminine HRT using an informed consent model. Their patient advocates educate on options while their physicians monitor effects and health indicators during treatment. Most patients see significant improvements in gender dysphoria, mood, body shape and skin quality within months.
The HRT Informed Consent Process
HRT informed consent typically involves:
- Reviewing medical history
- Identify risk factors like blood clots that may limit treatment options
- Discussing goals and expectations
- Improving dysphoria, feminization, etc
- Getting baseline blood tests
- Learning self-injection or proper application of gels/patches
- Starting medications and monitoring
- Follow-up tests for breast growth, bone health, etc
- Meeting regularly to assess progress and adjust treatment
- Increase dosages after stabilization phase
- Education
- How medications impact hormones, changes to expect, timeline, delivery methods, and risks
- Informed consent
- Patient formally consents to treatment after demonstrating understanding
- Shared decision making
- Patient and provider decide suitable medications and doses to meet goals while minimizing risks
- Access
- Prescriptions provided directly rather than requiring assessments
- Follow-up monitoring
- Regular blood tests to monitor health and adjust medications as needed
By ensuring patients fully understand the treatment, HRT informed consent enables them to consent without barriers. This validation of autonomy and access reduces dysphoria while customization and ongoing monitoring provides patient-centered care.
