Transgender Care
Student Health Services is available to all students, including those who identify as gender-variant, gender queer, transgender, and/or transsexual. Our clinical and counseling staffs work in conjunction with each student to address their most pressing health issues.
Knowing that transgender students are sometimes hesitant to access health care, Student Health Services maintains a space where students can ask questions, get answers, and feel supported when making decisions.
The Student Health Services benefit plan provides psychotherapy coverage for gender identity and associated co-morbid psychiatric diagnoses. The benefits are the same as any other outpatient mental health service.
Student Assistance Program (SAP) provides all enrolled students and their immediate family members limited, free-of-charge family therapy without referral.
The Plan provides coverage for continuous hormone replacement therapy. The covered person must meet all the following eligibility qualifications for hormone replacement (in addition to the plan’s overall eligibility requirements as reviewed in this plan document):
- A mental health screening and/or assessment from two qualified mental health professional. Our clinicians provide a safe and confidential space for students.
- Age 18 years or older for hormones to change physical characteristics;
- Demonstrable knowledge of what hormones medically can and cannot do and their social benefits and risks; and
- Initial hormone therapy must be preceded by: a documented real-life experience (living as the other gender) of at least three months prior to the administration of hormones; or a period of psychotherapy of a duration specified by the mental health professional after the initial evaluation, with a minimum of three months.
If the covered person is eligible for benefits, the benefits are provided the same as any other eligible drug as describe in this plan.
Laboratory testing to monitor the safety of continuous hormone therapy. If the covered person is eligible for benefits, the benefits are the same as any other outpatient diagnostic service on the plan.
The following sites provide detailed information on hormone therapy:
Personal Gender Pronouns and Chosen Names
We strive to honor the identities of students by using personal gender pronouns (PGP) and chosen names. Students can add or change their chosen name by notifying the office.
Washington University in St Louis Preferred Name Policy
Your legal name an sex assigned at birth are required, however, for certain medical documents.
Why does Student Health Services need my full, legal name?
Student Health Services (SHS) must have your legal name on all medical documents because they are legal documents. SHS will have a place holder in your medical record for your preferred name. We will need to identify you by your legal name on certain occasions during your visit but will use your preferred name when possible.
Why must my sex be used for medical visits instead of my gender identity?
A person’s birth sex is a primary state of anatomic or physiologic parameters. Physiological change is different between the male and female sex. Medical conditions between males and females are often different between the two sexes and may require different forms of treatment. Some lab values are also reported differently between the sexes. SHS will recognize your preferred gender but will use your sex for your legal medical document and treatments.