Regardless of the place you’re on the gender spectrum, you may select to make use of contraception if there’s an opportunity you possibly can get pregnant and also you don’t need to.
Not all people who find themselves transgender, nonbinary, or gender expansive select to get gender-affirming care. However some folks do take hormone remedy as a part of their medical care to assist align their intercourse traits with their gender identification. In case you do, needless to say gender-affirming hormone remedy isn’t made for contraception, so that you shouldn’t depend on it for that objective.
Some folks may additionally contemplate sure varieties of hormonal contraception for different causes. For instance, gender dysphoria – misery when your gender doesn’t match the intercourse assigned to you at start – can worsen for those who determine as male however had been assigned feminine at start and get your interval. Some contraception choices can reduce or cease your interval.
Contraception isn’t designed for any explicit gender identification. Something that cisgender folks may select is offered for everybody. The kind of contraceptive that’s finest for you is dependent upon your state of affairs.
“If it’s for a affected person with no different danger elements, any possibility is offered,” says Beth Cronin, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Windfall, RI. Issues that will have an effect on your choice embrace your well being, household planning targets, and what negative effects you’re keen or in a position to stay with.
Contraceptive counseling may also help you resolve which possibility finest matches your targets, says Adam Bonnington, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist in San Francisco. (Contraceptive is one other phrase for contraception.)
In case your objective is to keep away from being pregnant, you might need to contemplate contraception if:
- You may have ovaries and a uterus, you haven’t gone by menopause, and you’ve got vaginal intercourse with somebody who has testicles and a penis.
- You may have testicles and a penis, and you’ve got vaginal intercourse with somebody who has ovaries and a uterus who hasn’t been by menopause and doesn’t need to get pregnant.
You and your associate could need to talk about what you every need and what the choices are.
Trans males and nonbinary folks: In case you take testosterone remedy (T) to curb female traits and convey out masculine ones, it is going to cease your durations. Some folks assume meaning they’ll’t get pregnant. However whereas a being pregnant for somebody on this state of affairs is unlikely, it’s not unimaginable, Cronin says.
“We usually counsel sufferers that in the event that they’re on T and are having that sort of intercourse, they may get pregnant and they need to be utilizing contraception,” she says.
In case you take testosterone as a part of your gender-affirming care, and also you need to get pregnant, you’ll should cease taking it.
Trans ladies and nonbinary folks: Some trans ladies and nonbinary folks take estradiol remedy as a feminizing hormone. That therapy gained’t work as contraception. Neither will hormonal remedy that curbs masculine traits, as a result of it doesn’t utterly cease sperm manufacturing.
In case you haven’t had a vasectomy (when a physician cuts and seals the tubes that carry sperm) or orchiectomy (surgical procedure to take away the testicles), and you’ve got vaginal intercourse together with your associate, be certain that they use contraception in the event that they don’t need to get pregnant. You may as well use a barrier technique, corresponding to a condom, however condoms don’t work in addition to different types of contraception.
Different varieties of hormonal therapies that aren’t contraception strategies embrace:
- Cyproterone acetate
- Finasteride
- Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues
There are a number of varieties of contraception. The kind that’s best for you won’t be proper for another person.
Issues that may have an effect on your selections embrace:
- How straightforward it’s to make use of
- Value
- Potential negative effects
- Misconceptions you could have about it
- Issues that make it onerous to get contraception
- Discrimination or bias
- Your relationship together with your physician
Discuss to your physician in case you have questions on your choices.
Condoms
Condoms will assist shield you from sexually transmitted ailments (STDs). However to keep away from being pregnant, you must also use one other type of contraception.
If condoms are the one type of contraception you employ – and you employ them completely, each time you could have vaginal intercourse – there’s a few 2% probability that you possibly can get pregnant. However most individuals don’t all the time use them accurately, driving up the percentages of getting pregnant to about 13% for those who’re not utilizing a second type of contraception.
IUDs
Intrauterine units (IUDs) are formed like a T. A physician inserts an IUD into your uterus for long-term, extremely efficient contraception. It’s a fast course of, however you’ll need to be sure to’re comfy with that.
There are 5 varieties of IUDs accepted within the U.S. 4 of them launch very small quantities of the hormone progestin, which won’t trigger any feminizing results. The fifth sort is a nonhormonal copper intrauterine machine (you may hear these known as Cu-IUDs).
Unwanted effects can embrace vaginal recognizing (the place there’s solely a bit of little bit of blood) and bleeding. Some folks additionally get cramps associated to their IUD. However most individuals follow the IUDs, in response to a 2021 research revealed within the Journal of Midwifery and Ladies’s Well being. That research was based mostly on a survey of 105 trans males and gender various folks with IUDs who had been assigned feminine at start. The IUDs had been “properly tolerated,” the researchers wrote, with few folks in search of to take away them due to negative effects.
Progesterone-only strategies
Progesterone is a hormone that your physique makes. Progestin is an artificial model of it.
Progesterone-only strategies of contraception embrace some IUDs (levonorgestrel intrauterine methods), implants, pictures, or tablets. Discuss to your physician about it first.
Photographs or IUDs may assist you to cease or reduce bleeding out of your vagina. To keep away from bleeding, you might need to select a technique just like the progestin-only implant, IUD, or shot, Bonnington says.
Mixed hormonal contraceptives (CHCs)
Mixed hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) embrace patches, tablets, and the vaginal ring. They comprise estrogen and progestogen. There isn’t sufficient feminizing hormone in these contraceptives to have an effect on testosterone remedy.
In case you’ve had prime surgical procedure (surgical procedure to take away breast tissue to create a extra masculine chest), medicines with estrogen – corresponding to contraception tablets, patches, or the ring – may make your breasts really feel tender or sore. “Some folks word some bloating and issues like that, nevertheless it’s actually going to rely upon the individual,” Cronin says.
Extra everlasting choices
There are additionally extra everlasting types of contraception. Both associate can get a vasectomy or tubal ligation (surgical procedure to chop, tie, or block the fallopian tubes). Each procedures will assist forestall conception.
Many transgender and nonbinary folks say they’ve been discriminated towards or in any other case not handled respectfully in well being care settings.
Typically the easiest way to seek out LGBTQ-friendly suppliers is thru phrase of mouth from household or buddies, Cronin says. Native LGBTQ organizations usually have an inventory of suppliers they refer folks to, Bonnington says.
Indicators the supplier is LGBTQ-friendly can embrace:
- A posted signal with nondiscrimination insurance policies that embrace gender identification and expression protections
- A ready room with instructional brochures, magazines, or posters about transgender well being
- A toilet labeled for all-gender use
- Consumption varieties that ask on your right identify, pronouns, gender identification, and intercourse assigned at start
- Suppliers who’ve their pronouns on their identify badges
Nonetheless, he says, these aren’t ensures {that a} supplier or clinic is LGBTQ-friendly.
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