The story of the Romanian trans community told by an young endocrinologist

In Romania, like in many other countries, the visibility and transparency of the trans people has increased in the recent years with the public acces to the information regarding this delicate topic. Even so, the lack of... [ view full abstract ]

In Romania, like in many other countries, the visibility and transparency of the trans people has increased in the recent years with the public acces to the information regarding this delicate topic. Even so, the lack of specialized doctors for the medical transition process, the incomplete and contradictory informations offered by the competent authorities and institutions, and the vague and difficult process for the legal identity recognition, are making the situation harder for the trans people.
Before 2013, a Romanian NGO that is promoting and defending LGBT rights, received in 5 years the request for support from 70 trans persons. Now, another NGO called TransForm, founded in 2013, has 115 members and the unofficial data they collected till now, indicates almost 500 trans people that have started their transition.

I, an endocrinologist with interests in the field of transgender health, but without any experience during my internship, with the help of TransForm, chose to start my first analysis of the trans community in Romania. [ view full abstract ]

I, an endocrinologist with interests in the field of transgender health, but without any experience during my internship, with the help of TransForm, chose to start my first analysis of the trans community in Romania.

I collected data using an online questionnaire distributed with the help of the founding member of TransForm. I used 19 questions and 45 answers were gathered. [ view full abstract ]

I collected data using an online questionnaire distributed with the help of the founding member of TransForm.
I used 19 questions and 45 answers were gathered.

I aimed to find out from the simple issues like the gender identity of the person, age, level of education, their medical insurance situation, to the more complex aspects of the medical (hormonal treatment, medical... [ view full abstract ]

I aimed to find out from the simple issues like the gender identity of the person, age, level of education, their medical insurance situation, to the more complex aspects of the medical (hormonal treatment, medical surveillance, surgical interventions,) and legal transitions. The last question was referring to what each one would improve about their medical team and the answers varied from “everything” to “ nothing, everything it’s perfect”.

It is maybe that, because of the media involvement of the transmale members of the community, most people who answered are transmales (75 %), 49 % are between 18 and 30 of age, and even though the majority of them have a... [ view full abstract ]

It is maybe that, because of the media involvement of the transmale members of the community, most people who answered are transmales (75 %), 49 % are between 18 and 30 of age, and even though the majority of them have a batchlor degree, only 11% have a monthly salary of more than 700 euro.
Only one of them succeded with the legal transition, and when it comes to the medical transition, almost 70 % started HRT, but 64 % are not under periodic endocrine surveilance, 51.6 % prefer to have hormonal replacement therapy without consulting a doctor, and 70% choose the privat medical system when it comes to medical evaluation.
The main source for the hormonal treatment is for 63.33 % of the persons who answered, the "black market".

The situation of the trans people in Romania is far from being perfect. Even as a doctor with interests in persons with gender dysphoria diagnosis, you don’t have access to the experience of a gender team or practical... [ view full abstract ]

The situation of the trans people in Romania is far from being perfect. Even as a doctor with interests in persons with gender dysphoria diagnosis, you don’t have access to the experience of a gender team or practical information. Moreover, the lack of a medical system support regarding aspects useful for the management of the medical transition, shows there is a long way ahead for improving the current situation.