- Compassion and dignity because we value the complexity of each person’s unique identity. We want you to feel safe and respected.
- Individualized, world-class care for each person, backed by the full weight of Stanford Medicine’s groundbreaking research, highly trained providers, and unparalleled care. Go to Gender-Affirming Services
- LGBTQ+ leadership on a global scale, as our physician-leaders helped develop the current World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) standards and created LGBTQ+ curricula for medical providers.
- Full-service destination for quality LGBTQ+ care with access to our award-winning LGBTQ+ Health Program. Our dedicated LGBTQ+ Patient Care Coordinator can help you navigate care, prepare for scheduled surgeries, and connect to resources. Go to Your Patient Journey
- Surgical expertise with innovative techniques featuring the world’s latest advances, including some found nowhere else in the United States. Many of our surgeons received fellowship training in gender-affirming surgery. Go to Your Care Team
- Ease of access with prompt scheduling and virtual visits for some appointments. Go to Connecting to Care
Stanford Health Care follows the practices outlined in the WPATH Standards of Care. You can feel confident in the safe and effective care we offer.
Our gender-affirming services include:
Stanford Health Care uses an informed consent model to help you access gender-affirming hormone therapy with fewer barriers. We listen to your goals and develop a hormone therapy plan based on your preferences and our extensive experience. Our physicians are well-versed in many hormone therapy options and take proactive measures to minimize side effects.
Our dermatologists treat and help prevent skin conditions linked with gender-affirming hormone therapy, including:
- Acne
- Alopecia (hair loss)
We also use the latest hair-removal methods to help you:
- Achieve a more feminine appearance
- Prepare for pelvic surgeries
Facial plastic surgery can modify your facial features to create a more feminine, masculine, or nonbinary appearance that affirms and expresses your identity. Areas of the face commonly changed include:
- Forehead and hairline
- Eye area
- Nose
- Lips
- Cheeks
- Ears
- Jaw and chin
Top surgery reshapes the chest area to achieve a masculine, feminine, or nonbinary appearance that affirms and expresses your identity. Procedures include:
- Gender-affirming mastectomy: Removing breast tissue to create a chest that better reflects your gender identity. Also known as chest masculinization surgery.
- Breast augmentation: Increasing breast size with implants or transplanting fat to the chest from another area of the body. Also known as chest feminization surgery.
Pelvic surgery reconstructs your genitals so they more closely align with your identity. Our fellowship-trained surgeons excel in:
Feminizing Pelvic Surgeries
- Orchiectomy: Removing the testes
- Vulvoplasty: Removing the penis, scrotum, testes, and urethra, then creating a vulva (labia, clitoral hood, and urethral opening)
- Vaginoplasty: Creating a vaginal canal and lining it with genital skin from the scrotum and penis or the peritoneum (a thin membrane lining the abdomen)
- Vulvovaginoplasty: Removing the penis, scrotum, testes, and urethra, then creating a vulva and vaginal canal lined with genital skin or peritoneum
Masculinizing Pelvic Surgeries
- Hysterectomy: Removing the uterus and cervix
- Salpingo-oophorectomy: Removing the ovaries and fallopian tubes
- Vaginectomy: Removing all or part of the vagina
Gender-affirming voice surgery modifies your vocal cords to raise or lower your voice’s pitch. Most people who undergo voice surgery also have vocal therapy with a speech-language pathologist.
Our award-winning LGBTQ+ Health Program delivers comprehensive, unparalleled care to the LGBTQ+ community. Our caring providers offer:
- Primary Care
- Fertility and Reproductive Services
- Behavioral Health Services
- Positive Care Clinic for HIV and STI Care
- Prevention and Education of Anogenital Cancers and HPV-Related Diseases
- Other Specialty Care
Research to Change Lives
We partnered with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to launch The PRIDE Study. The PRIDE Study is the first large-scale, long-term national health study of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or another sexual or gender minority. By participating in the study over time, your unique story will provide vital insights on the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people.
Talk With Us
Every person’s gender-affirming journey is different. We want to get to know you and understand your goals for care. Our team will assess your readiness for gender-affirming care.
Develop Your Care Plan
Our team supports you in developing your care plan. We ensure you understand the risks and benefits of each treatment. Some insurance plans require letters from mental health providers and a waiting period.
Treatment and Continuing Care
Our providers perform your procedures and monitor you closely for side effects and complications. We are by your side throughout your recovery and recommend that you follow up with your primary care physician.
Our providers work together to deliver safe and effective gender-affirming services with care and respect.
Your Doctors
Chest Reconstructive Surgeon
Chest reconstructive surgeons are plastic surgeons who focus on reshaping the chest area.
View All {0} Doctors »Endocrinologists
Endocrinologists are doctors who treat conditions involving the endocrine system (hormones), including adrenal, thyroid, bone, pituitary, and metabolic disorders.
View All {0} Endocrinologists »Facial Plastic Surgeons
Facial plastic surgeons use advanced and minimally invasive techniques to reshape facial features.
View All {0} Facial Plastic Surgeons »Laryngologist
A laryngologist is a head and neck surgeon specializing in medical and surgical care for voice and swallowing conditions and related structures.
View All {0} Laryngologists »Obstetricians/Gynecologists
Gynecologists offer annual exams such as pap-tests and manage your reproductive health. They also perform gender-affirming pelvic surgical procedures.
View All {0} Obstetrician And Gynecologist (OB-GYN)s »Primary Care Providers
Our doctors and advanced practice nurses provide comprehensive primary care and specialize in full-spectrum LGBTQ+ Health. Our primary care providers can administer hormone therapy as part of their gender-affirming practice.
View All {0} Primary Care Doctors »Urogynecologist and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgeon
Our team includes a urogynecologist with advanced, specialized training in transgender pelvic surgery.
View All {0} Pelvic Reconstructive Surgeons »Extended Care Team
Advanced Practice Provider
Advanced practice providers (APPs) are health professionals, such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners, who practice medicine under a doctor's supervision. They can perform routine exams, order lab work and X-rays, prescribe medicines, and counsel people about their health.
Behavioral Health Providers
Our psychiatrists and psychologists treat conditions such as anxiety, bipolar affective disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and sleep disorders. They also address needs unique to members of LGBTQ+ communities.
LGBTQ+ Patient Care Coordinators
Care coordinators provide you with information and assistance prior to and during your appointment.
- Medical Assistant: Medical assistants work with our team to help provide care. They may prepare you for an examination, assist your doctor, or take vitals before your appointment.
- Patient Care Coordinator: Our patient care coordinators help you with scheduling appointments and accessing your lab results. They may be your first line of contact before you see your provider and will guide you through your experience at the LGBTQ+ Program.
- Patient Access Representative: Patient access representatives can answer any questions you have about insurance coverage, will assist you with applying for insurance, and can refer you to a Stanford financial counselor.
Research Coordinators
Doctors at the LGBTQ+ Program are very involved in research efforts to advance the medical community’s understanding. Research coordinators help screen candidates for possible participation in research efforts, including The PRIDE Study.
SUPPORT SERVICES
We offer a vast array of support services to help you throughout your journey. Support service resources include:
We make it easy to access world-class gender-affirming care through:
For Referring Physicians
PHYSICIAN HELPLINE
Fax: 650-320-9443
Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Stanford Health Care provides comprehensive services to refer and track patients, as well as the latest information and news for physicians and office staff. For help with all referral needs and questions, visit Referral Information.
You may also submit a web referral or complete a referral form and fax it to 650-320-9443 or email the Referral Center at ReferralCenter@stanfordhealthcare.org.