Gender-affirming care includes a variety of non-medical and medical options designed to support and honour your gender identity. Your healthcare team can help you create a care plan tailored to your needs.

This guide will help you to know what to expect as you work with your healthcare team on your gender affirmation goals. The information in this guide applies to those over 18 years of age.

You will have your own unique journey with gender-affirming care. How you move through your journey, the number of visits with your healthcare team, the steps you will take, and the order you take them in will depend on your needs. You will make decisions in partnership with your healthcare team.

What is gender-affirming care?

Gender-affirming care is an approach to supporting and affirming someone’s gender identity through non-medical and medical options. Gender-affirming care should be specific to you based on what your goals are through a process of coming to know, understand, and express your gender affirmation.

Most of your medical gender-affirming care should be available and well-managed through your primary care provider (family doctor or nurse practitioner). You may need support beyond what your primary care provider can give. Some people may also benefit from extra help or a referral from other professionals or support networks.

Whole-person health

The whole-person health approach will help you and your healthcare team better support your gender-affirming care.

Whole-person health draws from the teachings of the medicine wheel. It means thinking about all parts of your health and wellness:

• physical
• financial and social
• spiritual
• emotional

These parts are all connected and impact each other. It’s important to be aware of your personal needs in each part and to share that information with your healthcare team. Your healthcare team needs to understand who you are and what matters to you.

Support and resources

• If you need a family doctor, visit Alberta Health Services: Find a doctor.
• If you need a translator, let your healthcare provider know.
• If you need health advice any time, day or night, call Health Link at 811.
• If you need to find programs and services in your community, call or text 211 or visit 211 Alberta.
  

For a list of resources about gender affirmation, visit the Skipping Stone resource library.