Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun 18:12:701364.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.701364. eCollection 2021.

Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators: A Potential Option For Non-Binary Gender-Affirming Hormonal Care?

Affiliations

Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators: A Potential Option For Non-Binary Gender-Affirming Hormonal Care?

Jane Y Xu et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Gender dysphoria describes the distress associated with having a gender identity that differs from one's birth-assigned sex. To relieve this distress, transgender, and gender diverse (henceforth, trans) individuals commonly undergo medical transition involving hormonal treatments. Current hormonal treatment guidelines cater almost exclusively for those who wish to transition from male to female or vice versa. In contrast, there is a dearth of hormonal options for those trans individuals who identify as non-binary and seek an androgynous appearance that is neither overtly male nor female. Though prolonged puberty suppression with gonadotrophin releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) could in theory be gender-affirming by preventing the development of unwanted secondary sex characteristics, this treatment option would be limited to pre- or peri-pubertal adolescents and likely have harmful effects. Here, we discuss the theoretical use of Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs) for non-binary people assigned male at birth (AMAB) who are seeking an androgynous appearance through partial feminization without breast growth. Given their unique range of pharmacodynamic effects, SERMs may represent a potential gender-affirming treatment for this population, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding their use and potentially adverse effects in this context.

Keywords: gender dysphoria; gender non-binary; hormone replacement therapy; selective estrogen receptor modulators; transgender.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. Cheung AS, Leemaqz SY, Wong JWP, Chew D, Ooi O, Cundill P, et al. Non-Binary and Binary Gender Identity in Australian Trans and Gender Diverse Individuals. Arch Sex Behav (2020) 49(7):2673–81. 10.1007/s10508-020-01689-9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chew D, Tollit MA, Poulakis Z, Zwickl S, Cheung AS, Pang KC. Youths With a non-Binary Gender Identity: A Review of Their Sociodemographic and Clinical Profile. Lancet Child Adolesc Health (2020) 4(4):322–30. 10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30403-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zwickl S, Wong A, Bretherton I, Rainier M, Chetcuti D, Zajac JD, et al. Health Needs of Trans and Gender Diverse Adults in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of a National Community Survey. Int J Environ Res Public Health (2019) 16(24):5088. 10.3390/ijerph16245088 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aparicio-Garcia ME, Diaz-Ramiro EM, Rubio-Valdehita S, Lopez-Nunez MI, Garcia-Nieto I. Health and Well-Being of Cisgender, Transgender and Non-Binary Young People. Int J Environ Res Public Health (2018) 15(10):2133. 10.3390/ijerph15102133 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Clark BA, Veale JF, Townsend M, Frohard-Dourlent H, Saewyc E. Non-Binary Youth: Access to Gender-Affirming Primary Health Care. Int J Transgend (2018) 19(2):158–69. 10.1080/15532739.2017.1394954 - DOI

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources