Social and medical practices of gender transition in Russia

Abstract

AIM. To examine the social and medical aspects of gender transition practices in Russia. MATERIAL AND METHODS. An anonymous online survey of people living in Russia whose gender experience differed from the sex marker determined at birth was conducted. The final sample consisted of 588 respondents (aged 24.016.70), of whom 69.9% (n=409) were transgender male, 23.1% (n=136) were transgender female, and 7.3% (n=43) had a different gender identity. RESULTS. There was a high frequency of social disadaptation among respondents (15.5% of the sample). Most respondents first reflected that their gender identity did not match their sex at birth and/or did not fit into the social framework during childhood or adolescence, with a peak at age 1114 (39.8% of the entire sample). The age at which respondents began gender transition was overwhelmingly after adulthood, with a peak at age 1825 (32.0% of the entire sample). More than half of the respondents (59.4%) who had medical body changes associated with gender transition initiated them on their own. Less than half of the respondents who were on hormone therapy (41.0%) had been monitored by an endocrinologist. The study showed a large proportion of people who already had medical body changes but had not changed sex marker on their IDs, with transgender women having the largest rate in this indicator. CONCLUSION. The data obtained determine the relevance of developing a system of specialized medical care for transgender people with essential destigmatizing psychotherapeutic and psychiatric care for these people, as well as emphasize the need to study the availability of medical (psychiatric) care for transgender people living in Russia.