Transgender Patients Face Challenges at the Hospital

Beck Bailey has encountered some health care professionals who were unsure how to treat transgender patients.

Credit Kieran Kesner for The New York Times

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After a skiing accident in January left him with a smashed knee, Beck Bailey, a transgender man in Greenfield, Mass., spent 15 days in a Vermont hospital undergoing a handful of surgeries. As part of his normal routine, Mr. Bailey gives himself regular shots of testosterone. But the endocrinologist on duty in Vermont told him that patients should not take testosterone post surgery.

Mr. Bailey explained that he couldn’t just stop his hormone treatment. But the doctors were so resistant that he finally had them call his primary care physician, who explained he should resume his usual protocol.

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Karl Surkan, who is transitioning from female to male, carries the BRCA1 gene. After he was given a diagnosis of breast cancer, his doctors were unclear on how testosterone would affect his cancer treatments.Credit Mark Makela for The New York Times

Mr. Surkan, who is transitioning from female to male, has firsthand experience: He carries the BRCA1 gene and was given a diagnosis of breast cancer. When he inquired about whether testosterone would affect his cancer treatments, his oncologist told him, “It probably would, but we don’t have any data on whether testosterone would cause a recurrence of your cancer. We wish we could help you.”

Indeed, there are few longitudinal studies on hormone use in the trans community. Many doctors aren’t aware that some transgender men may still need pap smears, breast exams and mammograms, and that all transgender women should be screened for prostate problems.

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