Public Service
Nau mai, haere mai.
A very warm welcome to our transgender, non-binary, gender diverse community, whanau and friends, and all health professionals wanting to seek information about gender affirming health care and services.
Hauora Tāhine - Pathways to Transgender Healthcare Services is the collective name for a number of secondary services that provide gender affirming healthcare for transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people.
Across the Auckland Region, the two main service providers are Centre for Youth Health for young people and adolescents, and Auckland Regional Sexual Health Service for adults. These two services have multiple clinics across Auckland. They provide support around exploration of gender and medical affirmation, family/whānau support, puberty blockers, hormone therapy and referral for other gender affirming health care.
The teams recognise that you are the expert around your own gender, whether you're a binary trans person, non-binary, transsexual, agender, tāhine, whakawahine, tangata ira tane, fa'afafine, fakaleiti, leiti, akava’ine, genderqueer or however else you might like to describe yourself. When you come to Hauora Tāhine clinicians will work with you to establish your gender related health goals and provide support around an individualised health plan that may include accessing other specialist services such as: fertility, voice therapy, endocrinology, gynaecology, urology, mental health, general and plastic surgical services* as needed.
Your Hauora Tāhine clinician will send letters to your GP outlining your management plan and support your primary care health team to provide ongoing maintenance therapy once established. Your GP may refer you back to Hauora Tāhine for further support if your hormone therapy needs to be reviewed or you need to access further gender affirming healthcare.
*Note: At this time surgical services have a limited capacity for chest reconstruction and breast augmentation, with lower medical affirmation surgery being managed by the Ministry of Health’s High Cost Treatment Pool. See the Health care for transgender New Zealanders page.
Services provided Gender affirming medical careThe teams at Hauora Tāhine will work to support your wellbeing. Your team may include nurses, doctors, mental health clinicians and social workers who will work with you to create a tailored treatment plan. Holistic psychosocial consultations provide the basis for getting to know you better and understanding your personal goals. Your plan may or may not include:
As with any treatment, you will need to provide health information and may need to undergo an examination before starting a new medical treatment. This can include:
More information on this will be provided to you prior to your first appointment. Readiness for hormones and readiness for surgery consultations will be provided as part of your care to make sure you have everything you need to get started.
BlockersBlockers are typically used throughout adolescence to prevent the onset of puberty, or halt its progress (recognising that pubertal changes continue through into early adulthood). This prevents/halts the development of secondary sex characteristics, such as breast tissue, hair growth or bony facial changes.
The effects of blockers are completely reversible, and can decrease distress associated with the body changes of puberty.
Hormone therapyIndividuals may choose to access hormone therapy (often called hormone replacement therapy) as a part of a transition process.
There are a number of different options for hormone therapy, however they generally fall into three categories:
A clinician will work with you on a holistic solution for you and your body.
CounsellingThe Hauora Tāhine ask about your mental health as part of your holistic psychosocial consultations. If you have concerns about anxiety or your mood or any other mental health issues, clinicians can support you to access counselling or other mental health support if needed. If you are feeling distressed now you can phone:
Greenlane Clinical Centre
Street address
214 Green Lane West
Epsom
Auckland 1051
Postal address
Private Bag 92 189 Auckland Mail Centre Auckland 1142
The information on this page has been provided by healthpoint.co.nz, helping people better understand and use New Zealand health services.
