User:Ninty900/Transgender hormone therapy

Use of medications
Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone were all used in transgender hormone therapy by the 1960s. The antiandrogen cyproterone acetate was introduced in 1973 and came into use in the treatment of transgender people in the 1970s and 80s.

WPATH/HBIGDA
Under the first version of the Harry Benjamin Gender International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA) Standards of Care, a transgender person was required to live in the gender role they were transitioning to for three months prior to obtaining hormone treatment. This requirement was removed in version two, although this version still required transgender people to see a psychologist or psychiatrist for at least three months prior to obtaining a recommendation for hormone treatment, if they did not participate in this "real life experience." This requirement was maintained in versions three through six and removed in version seven, although psychotherapy remains highly recommended.

Under early versions of the HBIGDA Standards of Care, only legal adults were eligible to receive hormone therapy. Version five specifies that adolescents may be eligible for puberty delaying hormones in select cases, but that hormones should rarely be given to those under 18 and hormones that induce bodily changes (rather than suppressing them) should never be given to those under 16. Version six retains the minimum age of 16 for masculinizing and feminizing hormones, although the language stating that those under 18 should rarely receive hormones is removed and it is clarified that puberty-delaying hormones may be started as soon as changes from puberty arise. Version seven does not explicitly state that a person must be 16 or older to receive masculinizing or feminizing hormones and discusses risks of denying treatment to adolescents.

Starting in version seven, these standards of care are referred to as the WPATH Standards of Care rather than the HBIGDA Standards of Care, reflecting the change in name of the organization that published them. Version eight of the WPATH standards of care is expected to be released in Spring of 2022, and will likely include further updates to the standards of care regarding hormone therapy.

Other standards of care
The International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy (ICTLEP) Health Law Standards of Care for Transsexualism were created after many were dissatisfied with the HBIGDA Standards of Care. These standards of care operated on more of an informed consent model. Under the Health Law Standards of Care, the only conditions for receiving hormone treatment were that the treatment wouldn't worsen existing health conditions, that the patient kept up to date with bloodwork, and that the patient provided informed consent by signing a form. If a patient was married, the standards of care allowed individual physicians to require that the spouse sign a similar form, though the standards of care themselves do not make this a requirement.