gender transition

noun

plural gender transitions

: a process by which a transgender or nonbinary (see nonbinary sense c) person comes to live in accordance with their gender identity through changes to their appearance and presentation often with the aid of medical procedures and therapies

Note: While many associate gender transition with a process that involves hormone therapy, gender confirmation surgery and legal name change, the term is also applied more broadly, since what transition involves can vary a great deal from person to person. In some cases, for example, the term gender transition may simply refer to the adoption of new personal pronouns and/or a change in clothing, hairstyle, etc.

For transgender people who are insured, barriers to care can persist, as private insurers have historically excluded coverage for medical interventions related to gender transition.

—Jaclyn M. White Hughto et al.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires women who are transgender like me to complete 12 months of hormone therapy to suppress testosterone as part of their gender transition before competing.

—Lindsay Hecox

Examples of gender transition in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Public funds ban on gender transition Idahoans under a state insurance plan or Medicaid will no longer be eligible for gender-affirming care under Idaho’s new law. —Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 28 June 2024

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a Tennessee law that bans gender transition care for people younger than 18. —Casey Parks, Washington Post, 24 June 2024

In states where Democrats control the statehouse, at least two, Maine and Maryland, this year enacted laws protecting people who receive or provide medical treatments for gender transition care from legal action by other states. —Amy Harmon, New York Times, 7 June 2024

The vote to override the veto of House Bill 68 comes just days after DeWine signed an executive order banning hospitals and surgical facilities from performing gender transition surgery on minors. —Anthony Shoemaker, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

gender transition

noun

: a process by which a transgender or nonbinary person comes to live in accordance with their gender identity through changes to their appearance and presentation often with the aid of medical procedures and therapies

Note: While many associate gender transition with a process that involves hormone therapy, gender confirmation surgery, and legal name change, the term is also applied more broadly, since what transition involves can vary a great deal from person to person. In some cases, for example, the term gender transition may simply refer to the adoption of new personal pronouns and/or a change in clothing, hairstyle, etc.

Gender transition can refer to social transition, physical transformation, or both. Many transgender … people do not seek medicalized assistance for transition, which can involve delays other than those created by medicine …

—Victoria Pitts-Taylor, Health

Studies examining the effects of hormonal gender transition during adolescence suggest that these transgender individuals experience decreased gender dysphoria, score more favorably on various psychological instruments than transgender people treated in adulthood, and function similarly to their peers.

—Deborah Coolhart et al., Journal of Marital & Family Therapy