Access to gender-affirming and general healthcare for transgender people in the Republic of Belarus

Abstract


Background.Feedback from patients is an important source of information for improving healthcare. This study aims to investigate accessibility of gender-affirming and general healthcare for transgender people in the Republic of Belarus. Materials and methods. Thematic analysis of 16 oral interviews using the socio-ecological model. Results. Social factors complicating access to gender-affirming healthcare include: the lack of legal possibility to initiate hormone therapy before changing the gender marker; inaccessibility of medical transition for individuals under 18; psychopathologization of transgenderism; inability to change the identification number, which encodes gender; inability to enter marriage for individuals with the same legal gender. Institutional factors: centralization of gender-affirming healthcare in Minsk, which leads to geographic barriers and the system's instability; the need to pay for hormonal drugs out of pocket; long evaluation time and unpredictability; unnecessary evaluations; low quality of surgeries; the lack of connection between specialists; the lack of gender-neutral toilets; sex-based separation of specialists (gynecologist/urologist). Interpersonal factors: misgendering and deadnaming; the lack of properly defined diagnostic criteria; gender stereotypes of specialists; denial of service; breach of confidentiality. Intrapersonal factors: low awareness; psychophobia; the lack of self-confidence; concerns about the reactions of people around.


About the authors

Yana Kirey-Sitnikova

Uppsala University

Author for correspondence.
Email: yana.kirey.sitnikova@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9603-5114

Sweden, Uppsala, Sweden

Alisa Kumets

T*Belarus

Email: alisa.kumets@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0009-6014-9134

Belarus, Minsk, Republic of Belarus

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