Informed Consent
Informed consent, in hormone care, is a way of prescribing where the clinician explains what hormones do, their risks and what cannot be undone, checks you understand, and then prescribes, without requiring a psychological assessment or diagnosis letter first.
Where you'll meet it
In the name of clinics, mostly in the US, that advertise "informed consent HRT", and in comparisons with gender clinics that require an assessment first. The term is also used more broadly in medicine for the consent any treatment needs.
What an appointment looks like
Usually a medical history, a conversation about what you hope hormones will do, a detailed run-through of effects and risks, a consent form, and baseline blood tests. Some clinics prescribe at the first visit; others wait for the blood results. It is not a rubber stamp: a clinician can still hold off if there is a medical reason, or if you do not seem to understand what you are agreeing to.
Where it is available
Widely in the US, including through community health centres and telehealth services, depending on the state. In some other countries it is available privately or through particular services; in others, including the UK's NHS, the route to hormones still runs through a specialist assessment. Informed consent covers how to find a clinic and what to bring.
Related pages
Not sure where to begin?
The Start Here guide covers what hormones change, how people get a prescription, what the blood tests are for and what it costs.
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