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Gender affirming hormone therapy: Context, safety and herbal adjuncts

  • Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich
    Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich

    Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich is a community herbalist committed to radical liberatory herbal practice and education. She is an educator at and founder of the Wild Cherries Herbal Studies Program and teaches at the Wild Current Clinical Mentorship Program. She’s passionate about helping repair the bond between the plant and human worlds, for companionship and collective healing; and loves the democratic, accessible and experiential nature of herbal medicine.

    She turned to herbal medicine as an ally to support community organizers, activists, queer and trans folks and others harmed and underserved by racism, capitalism and the patriarchy. In her experience, healing work is intimately interconnected with understanding, coping with and resisting the systemic violence and oppression that weighs on all our lives. Presently, she practices at the People’s Medicine Project in Greenfield, MA and creates magical herbal spaces for her trans community in the cities, woods and rivers she calls home.

  • 28:52 reading time (ish)
  • Trans and non-binary health

What does gender affirming hormone therapy involve, what are the risks and how can trans and non-binary individuals choosing to take hormones be supported by herbal care?

Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy Context Safety And Herbal Adjuncts

Gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is the medical terminology for trans people making their secondary sex characteristics more gender congruent using exogenous hormones and hormone-affecting medications. It has also been called hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and is in substance and purpose not much different from other types of hormone replacement therapies — such as for those experiencing menopause, low testosterone, adolescence with precocious or delayed periods, or unusually high or low levels of sex hormones for varying reasons.

There’s a history of medicalisation of trans people, and a lot of focus is placed on GAHT as an essential part of the trans experience. Many people who are trans do not choose to change their physiology at all, and hormone therapy is not a prerequisite for trans identity. Many trans people will also modify their bodies or hormone levels outside of the medical system, by sourcing hormones themselves, using hormonally-active plant medicines, through the use of body-modifying clothing, through physical activity like weight-lifting or yoga, or through a myriad of other DIY approaches.

Where do herbs come into the picture with hormone therapy? GAHT is usually very well tolerated, and most trans people who choose to do Gender affirming hormone therapy will not require complementary therapy, but it can be a useful support for some. This article will build an understanding of the safety, risks and side effects that can be associated with GAHT and offer some supportive herbal and holistic strategies.

In the colonised world, trans people have been persecuted and erased for centuries and continue to be vulnerable to political and physical violence today. In the US, the trans community is being aggressively and cruelly targeted by politicians seeking excuses to strip people of civil liberties, and the UK doesn’t seem far behind after the Supreme Court issued a decision reducing legal protections and rights for trans people. Professional bodies, practitioners and communities that will take a stand to protect trans people’s rights and offer supportive care are more important than ever. I hope this article is a brick in the hands of those building places of care, or of those resisting violence in other ways.

Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich

Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich is a community herbalist committed to radical liberatory herbal practice and education. She is an educator at and founder of the Wild Cherries Herbal Studies Program and... Read more

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