Gender Affirming Care Letters In Utah
What is gender-affirming care?
Gender-affirming care is a holistic, evidence-based approach. Affirming healthcare supports a person’s gender identity and expression. Gender affirming therapy recognizes that gender is a deeply personal experience.
Honoring someone’s identity is essential to their overall health and well-being. Trans people face many barriers to transition. Those barriers may include accessing gender affirming surgery or changing their gender marker.
Research consistently shows that access to affirming care improves mental health outcomes for transgender and non-binary people. Affirming care reduces depression and anxiety and lowers the risk of suicide.
Gender-affirming care can look like:
Social support. Using a person’s correct name, pronouns, and gender markers. Support also includes embracing other expressions of their gender identity.
Mental health support. Counseling or therapy that provides a safe and affirming space to explore one's identity. Support can also help people manage distress and address related challenges.
Medical support. Access to medical interventions based on the individual’s needs and goals.
Community and family support. Fostering acceptance, understanding, and belonging in social networks and families.
Why would a person need a gender-affirming care letter?
Much of gender-affirming care occurs on an interpersonal level. This includes interactions with friends, family, colleagues, or community members.
However, some trans and non-binary individuals wish to change their legal name or gender marker. They may also need access to specific medical interventions to feel fully at home in their bodies. This might include gender affirming hormone therapy or various surgical procedures. This is where gender-affirming care letters come in!
These letters may also be called a “letter of support” or a “readiness letter.”
Many government organizations, healthcare systems, insurance companies, and surgeons require formal documentation from a licensed mental health professional. This documentation can help folks access gender-affirming health care, like hormone therapy. It can also help them make changes to legal documents, like a birth certificate.
You likely need a gender-affirming care letter if you are seeking:
A legal name change
To update your legal gender
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Puberty blockers
Top surgery (i.e., chest masculinization or breast augmentation)
Bottom surgery (i.e., vaginoplasty/vulvoplasty, phalloplasty/metoidioplasty, gonadectomy, hysterectomy, gender-nullification surgery)
Facial feminization or facial masculinization surgery
Body feminization or body masculinization treatments
Other gender-related medical interventions
What do gender-affirming care letters include?
Gender-affirming care letters assess an individual's persistent, well-documented gender dysphoria. They also address their capacity to make a fully-informed decision and consent to the specific intervention desired. The letter documents these factors and demonstrates their readiness for treatment.
The letter will also address any significant mental or physical health conditions. This ensures they are well-managed and do not negatively impact the treatment's outcome. It will also detail any ongoing support plans.
A gender-affirming care letter is not designed to question or prove someone’s gender identity. Nor is it meant to focus on their sex assigned at birth. The goal is navigating medical, insurance, and governmental systems that still rely on these forms of documentation.
Gender Transition in Utah
If you identify as transgender, securing a legal gender change in Utah is a defined process. A gender-affirming care letter is one requirement for changing your gender marker in Utah.
A licensed mental health professional can write letters for gender-affirming care. This includes a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Primary care providers and endocrinologists may also be able to provide these letters.
A gender affirming therapist can help you satisfy the gender change requirements in Utah and understand your treatment options. All while helping you navigate the process in alignment with WPATH standards of care.
Important considerations:
Treatment history. A person must have at least a 6-month history of gender therapy treatment with their letter provider. This is a requirement for a letter from either an LCSW or LPC.
Additional requirements for minors. If the individual seeking a gender-affirming care letter is a minor, there are extra steps. The letter writer must also hold a Transgender Treatment Certification from the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL).
Timeline. Gender-affirming care letters must be dated within 12 months of the consultation for the desired medical treatment.
Insurance: Insurance is unlikely to cover the cost of the letter. However, depending on the provider and your insurance, you may be able to use mental health benefits for your therapy appointments. Always check with your insurance company before starting therapy with a new provider. Self-pay is always an option.
Gender-affirming care at Arches Healing & Growth
If you’re looking for an experienced gender therapist in Salt Lake City, Arches Healing & Growth is a great option. As a transgender-owned practice, we are grateful to provide gender-affirming care letters for transgender and gender diverse folks. Our experienced LCSWs are fully trained in the process, assessment, and development of content for gender-affirming care letters. We believe price shouldn’t be a barrier to receiving care, so we offer a low-cost, flat fee of $120 to provide these letters.
Please fill out our referral form if you would like to schedule an appointment with one of our therapists or if you are interested in learning how Arches can help. Click here to learn more about our approach to gender-affirming care.
