We opened our first dedicated gender services clinic in 2010, making our organization one of the first in the Midwest to provide gender-affirming care. Now, we continue to be one of the leaders in the region by offering comprehensive evidence-based care options, care coordination and support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Whether you’ve made the decision to start your gender journey or are just looking for a clinician you can trust, we can help. We’re honored to support you through your journey and to help you maintain your health. Our trusted clinicians provide a complete range of health care services to transgender and gender-expansive people, and people who are exploring their gender identity.

We draw on the resources of our multidisciplinary team to provide you the highest standard of evidence-based gender-affirming care, following internationally recognized guidelines and recommendations.

We’ll work with you to determine the best treatment options to meet your goals, while supporting you with resources, education and care coordination. We provide many gender services, including hormone therapy, puberty suppression, surgery, mental health support and more.

Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), also known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), uses medications to promote physical changes in your body that align with your gender identity.

Estrogen hormone therapy, which may be used in combination with androgen (testosterone) blockers and progesterone, can be taken in the following ways:

• Estrogen gels
• Estrogen patches
• Estrogen injections
• Oral estrogen pills

Testosterone hormone therapy, which involves only testosterone, can be taken in the following ways:

• Subcutaneous testosterone implants (pellets)
• Testosterone injections
• Transdermal gel

We’ll work with you to determine which type of prescription is the best option for your individualized care.

Adolescents who are transgender and gender expansive, along with their parents or guardians might decide to pause puberty. This is called puberty suppression. The purpose of puberty suppression is to temporarily stop hormone-related changes to your body that might not align with your gender identity.

Suppressing puberty can give you and your family more time to explore your gender identity, discuss goals and plan for future steps of gender affirmation. It can also reduce feelings of gender dysphoria. Our clinicians are available to answer your questions and talk to you and your family about your options.

Some people choose to have surgery as part of their gender journey. We work closely with our team of expert surgeons, gynecologists and urologists to provide the high-quality care you deserve, including consultations to discuss surgical options.

Our surgeons can perform these gender-affirming surgeries:

• Body contouring
• Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus)
• Orchiectomy (removal of the testicles)
• Top surgery (including breast augmentation and chest masculinizing surgery)

Depending on your course of care and gender-affirming surgeries, your care team may include surgeons specializing in different areas. Our plastic surgeons provide consultations for and perform breast augmentation and chest surgery (chest masculinizing surgery). Our urologic surgeons consult on and perform orchiectomies (removal of testicles), and our gynecologic surgeons consult on and perform hysterectomies.

Rehabilitation clinicians can offer support in a number of ways. Our physical therapists can assist in your post-surgical recovery and provide pelvic floor therapy. Our speech therapists can lead you through gender-affirming voice therapy.

Transgender or gender-expansive people are more likely to experience mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Our dedicated mental and behavioral health clinicians work closely with our gender medicine experts to provide gender-affirming mental health care and therapy, couples and family therapy, and letters of support for gender-affirming surgery.

We’re here to help you from your first appointment and beyond. The other services and areas of care we offer include:

• Fertility preservation planning
• Primary care, including annual wellness exams
• Reproductive care, including contraception
• Sexual health

Knowing what to expect can help you get the most out of your visit. When you arrive, we’ll start with a review of your gender journey and your complete medical and mental health history. If needed, we’ll perform a medical exam and lab tests. We’ll also perform an evaluation for gender dysphoria.

Next, we’ll discuss your goals and review gender-affirming care options that help meet those goals. We’ll help you understand the benefits and risks of each option and create a personalized plan for you. If other services or specialists are needed, we’ll connect you with them.