Gender Program

    Connecticut Children’s Gender Program, provides compassionate care to children and adolescents who express a strong desire to be a gender other than that assigned at birth.
     

    Statement of Support for Connecticut Children’s Gender Program

    At Connecticut Children’s, we are proud to offer high-quality gender-affirming and developmentally appropriate healthcare to our transgender and gender-diverse patients and their families through Connecticut Children’s Gender Program. Our program provides a safe and supportive environment for our patients to thrive and feel comfortable being their authentic selves in a way that strengthens their physical, mental, and emotional health. We are also proud to stand with our colleagues at children’s hospitals and health systems across the country, as they remain committed to providing gender-affirming care to their patients and families. Together, we will continue to advocate for transgender and gender-diverse youth and their families.

    At Connecticut Children’s, we strive to make our organization as welcoming and inclusive as possible for our team members, our patients and their families, and our community partners. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is detailed in our organization’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Declaration, which is available on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion web page.

    Additional information:

     

    How to Contact the Gender Program

    Before Puberty

    If you are a parent of a prepubertal gender-diverse child, we encourage continuing to support your child’s gender expression and ensure a safe environment for it. A therapist can often provide additional support and guidance. There is no role for medication or hormones at this stage.

     

    After Puberty Begins

    Please have your child’s referring provider (this can be a primary care or mental health provider) send us a referral that documents the name and pronouns used (if different from the insurance card). Additionally, if applicable, please document the adolescent’s custody arrangement, including DCF involvement (if any) and whether the adolescent’s legal guardian(s) support medical transition options. The first true sign of puberty is breast buds or testicular growth.

    Please also obtain an evaluation letter from a mental health provider that includes the following information:

    • The adolescent meets the diagnostic criteria of gender incongruence.
    • The experience of gender diversity/incongruence is marked and sustained over time.
    • The adolescent demonstrates the emotional and cognitive maturity required to provide informed consent/assent for the treatment.
    • The adolescent’s mental health concerns (if any) that may interfere with diagnostic clarity, capacity to consent, and gender-affirming medical treatments have been addressed

    The provider writing the evaluation letter for gender-diverse adolescents should meet the following criteria:

    • Be licensed by their statutory body and hold a postgraduate degree or its equivalent in a clinical field relevant to this role granted by a nationally accredited statutory institution.
    • Receive theoretical and evidenced-based training and develop expertise in general child, adolescent, and family mental health across the developmental spectrum.
    • Receive training and have expertise in gender identity development, and gender diversity in children and adolescents, have the ability to assess capacity to assent/consent, and possess general knowledge of gender diversity across the life span.
    • Receive training and develop expertise in autism spectrum disorders and other neurodevelopmental presentations or collaborate with a developmental disability expert when working with autistic/neurodivergent gender-diverse adolescents.
    • Continue engaging in professional development in all areas relevant to gender-diverse children, adolescents, and families.
    • Facilitate the exploration and expression of gender openly and respectfully so that no one particular identity is favored.
    • Undertake a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment of adolescents who present with gender identity-related concerns and seek medical/surgical transition-related care, and that this be accomplished in a collaborative and supportive manner.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    If you have the pediatrician referral but not the evaluation letter as of yet, we will still be happy to see you in the clinic, but please note it will be an informational visit only. We do think it is important for adolescents to have behavioral health support during their gender journey and ask for the evaluation letter in keeping with the current World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) latest standards of care (SOC 8) guidelines before writing prescriptions. The prescriptions may include reversible medical interventions that pause current puberty (also called “puberty blockers”) or those that initiate the desired pubertal changes (such as estrogen or testosterone).

    Mental health professionals can help those considering hormone therapy to be both psychologically prepared (for example, making a fully informed decision with clear and realistic expectations, with inclusion of family and community as appropriate) and practically prepared (for example, has considered the psychosocial implications). In addition, there should be some discussion that estrogen and testosterone may affect reproductive options.

    Gender Dysphoria Support Groups

    Gender Dysphoria Resources

    Medical Professionals

    To refer a patient to the Gender Program, please submit a specialty referral.