"But once that happened, he said it quickly felt necessary, even urgent, to "make sure my body was going on the same track as my brain." Eric, 15, who asked to go by his middle name in this story, said the medical providers he worked with at Kaiser were very supportive. In fact, he said, it was conversations with a social worker there that allowed his parents to feel comfortable with him starting hormone replacement therapy."
"She's talking about Kaiser's decision to "pause" gender-affirming surgical care for patients under the age of 19. When news of this change broke in July, it was unclear exactly what it would mean for Eric's future. It would certainly mean no chest surgery. Would it also mean no hormone implants, one of the most common ways young people receive HRT? It wasn't the first shoe to drop, and it wouldn't be the last."
""Honestly, it was really easy," she said. "They have a terrific gender clinic. We went at a pace that was comfortable for us. They neither blocked us nor stalled us." She said having access to compassionate care is part of why her family lives in the Bay Area."That is why we were in such shock that - just a few months after the inauguration - Kaiser, of all places, was rolling back care," she said."
An Oakland teenager, Eric, began gender-affirming care at Kaiser Permanente at 15 after puberty made such care feel urgent. Medical providers and a social worker at Kaiser supported his transition and helped his parents consent to hormone replacement therapy, which Eric calls his daily stress relief. His mother, BP, praised Kaiser's gender clinic as compassionate and accessible and said care proceeded at a comfortable pace without obstruction. Months later, Kaiser paused gender-affirming surgical care for patients under 19, creating uncertainty about chest surgery and whether hormone implants and other interventions would remain available. Federal actions targeting youth gender-related medical care followed.
Read at The Oaklandside
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