Navigating reproductive health when you're trans
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Why is reproductive health especially challenging for trans and non‑binary people?
It's
very scary just being trans in the world today. What you say really matters. Women really are not the only people with with these problems. There's trans men, there's non-binary people, and there are intersex individuals. So that's other groups of people that are not women that have these exact same problems.
The hookup love and on Triple J. Trying to navigate the medical system when you're trans is already a minefield, but it's particularly hard when you're a guy going to a gyno or a woman getting a prostate check. Hey, I'm Nat Tencich, and since reproductive care is so often segregated into men's or women's health, it can be really tough getting the right care when you're trans. Engaging with parts that may not align with your gender identity can be even harder. Bridget Hustwaite, who you usually hear on Triple J's Good Nights, has long been vocal about her struggle with endometriosis. Now that's a condition where you're used. Nutrient lining grows outside of the uterus. It can be super painful, and there are countless stories of women going misdiagnosed or having their pain dismissed for years.
But through her activism online, Bridget came to learn that it's not just hashtag one in ten women going through enopain. There's men, non-binary, and intersex people as well. As she reports for the hook up, they more often go unseen.
I'm bedside with Bridget Huswaite and we're talking about the operation she had last week to find out if she had endometriosis.
It's been just over a year since I received my diagnosis for endometriosis, but it took me a long time to get to that point. Six years of pain and six years of bouncing between GPs who doubted me and dismissed. One thought the pill would be an easy fix and one even flat out said that I don't have endo. Any woman with this illness would know just how difficult it is for your pain and symptoms to be taken seriously, but imagine how hard it would be to navigate the medical system with a woman's health condition when you don't identify with that gender.
It's kind of like that lack of awareness for endometriosis in general. But then when you throw in something like someone being trans and if a doctor is, you know, ignorant or they're prejudiced against you for whatever reason, you can be discriminated against. And, you know, unfortunately that's that's what happened with me.
That's Corey Smith. He's a 28-year-old transgender man from Rochester, New York, and an endometriosis advocate on Instagram. That's how we met. Corey was first diagnosed with endo in his late teens, but was experiencing pain since the age of twelve when he got his first period. Getting your period can be difficult enough for trans guys, but the endo was an extra punch in the gut. It even left him unsure he'd be able to transition.
I knew I wanted to do it, but I wasn't sure if it was something, you know, possible for me, given how many surgeries I was having and how sick I felt. As time went on, like I really knew like that's that's who I was, that's what I needed to do, and I also kind of hoped like, you know, maybe the testosterone can help some of those symptoms.
At twenty-three, Corey was finally able to start hormone therapy and actually found the testosterone helped stop his constant year-long periods.
I actually was someone that had my period for one year and eight months straight. I'm not kidding, like no day off. It was almost two straight years of a period heavy every day. And um that was from the adenomyiosis. When I started T, that stopped.
At least for a little while. But then it came back even worse. And he found it a constant battle trying to get appropriate help.
A lot of my problems started in in hospitals and situations where You know, you could be encountering anybody and they don't necessarily care about you. Nurses, doctors, hospitals. They need they need to treat us like we're actually human beings and Many times we're на, truly на treated. with the respect that you know a female with endo would get.
And this isn't just happening in New York.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Why is reproductive health especially challenging for trans and non‑binary people?
0:00–8:22
2
How did trans man Corey Smith’s experience with endometriosis shape his transition?
8:22–17:04
3
What obstacles did non‑binary Jess face when seeking endometriosis treatment?
17:04–26:06
4
How can clinicians make gynecological appointments less intimidating for trans patients?
26:06–26:16