Planned Parenthood of Western Pa. to offer hormone therapy for transgender, nonbinary people

Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania will begin offering hormone therapy to transgender and nonbinary individuals, the organization announced Friday.

Patients can now receive testosterone or estrogen/antiandrogen therapy at any family planning center.

“Hormone therapy can be an important step for people to feel more comfortable in their bodies, enhance their quality of life and decrease gender dysphoria,” the organization wrote in a news release. “At Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, we are proud to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive care to people of all genders.”

In the release, Planned Parenthood cited barriers in health care to receiving hormone therapy, including stigma, lack of provider education, insurance navigation and cost. Services at the family planning centers are offered on a “sliding scale” for people of all income levels. Prescriptions can be sent to a preferred pharmacy.

Patients must be at least 18 to receive the therapy and be able to give consent. There is no requirement for a therapist’s letter, the news release said.

Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania spokeswoman Sara Dixon said the organization had been working on a plan to offer hormone therapy for a long time, and had planned to start the services earlier this year.

“Of course, covid just completely messed with that schedule,” Dixon said. “But I’m really proud of our staff to be able to turn it around and despite difficulties, we’ve been able to release it this year.”

Dixon said Planned Parenthood staff needed to receive additional training “to make sure we all knew how to communicate and talk to patients and make sure our care was completely up to par,” she said.

The organization also offers a wide range of services that are helpful for transgender and nonbinary people, including testing for sexually transmitted infections, birth control options and talk therapy, she said.