Updated on Jan. 16 at 3:45 p.m. with comments from Eliazar Posada-Orozco of Equality NC.
UNC Health, the Triangle's largest health provider, will not provide gender-affirming care to patients under 19 years old.
This exceeds state law that prohibits gender-affirming care, such as hormone replacement therapy, for patients under the age of 18. In an emailed statement, UNC Health spokesperson Alan Wolf wrote that "given the unsettled state of federal guidelines," the health system raised the age limit for receiving medical services around gender transition sometime last year.
President Donald Trump last year issued an executive order to cut support for gender-affirming care for those under 19, which has since met legal challenges. NC Health News reported last summer that Atrium Health, the state's largest health provider, also stopped providing gender-affirming care to 18-year-olds.
LGBTQ advocates say that such restrictions are harmful and disruptive to young trans folks who are receiving care for their gender transition.
"It's very dangerous for young people who lose their care," said Eliazar Posada-Orozco, executive director of Equality NC. "There's a mental health aspect to it, there's a continued care provision part of it. It has a lot to do with people's ability to live their authentic lives."
" Eighteen-year-olds are adults in under U.S. law," he added. "With this decision of pushing this to 19, you are essentially ending care for adults and minors."
Posada-Orozco says young trans folks and families looking for gender-affirming care resources can reach out to the organization at info@equalitync.org.
In December, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a pair of proposed rules that would effectively further restrict access to gender-affirming care for young transgender people. One rule would stop providers from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursements for gender-affirming treatments given to patients under 18 years of age. The other would cut all Medicare and Medicaid funding for any services at hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for children.
North Carolina is one of 27 states that have enacted laws that limit or prohibit youth access to gender-affirming care.
We would like to hear from families about their experiences and questions navigating access to gender-affirming care in North Carolina. Please reach out to Eli Chen at elichen@wunc.org.
