Resources

World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health Inc. (WPATH) is an international, inter-disciplinary non-profit organization devoted to advancing knowledge on health issues related to gender identity including:

  • gender dysphoria,
  • improvement in the medical and psychological treatment of transgender individuals,
  • social and legal acceptance of hormonal and surgical sex reassignment and
  • professional and public education on the phenomenon of transgenderism.

Originally named the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA) -- after Harry S. Benjamin, M.D. (1885-1986) a pioneer researcher of gender dysphoria -- WPATH brings together professionals from a cross-section of fields such as medicine, psychology, social work, anthropology and others to produce a journal on transgender issues, provide web-based resources for understanding and convene conferences and communication boards exploring gender identity.

Standards of Care

The WPATH SOC version 6 (from 2001) and as clarified in 2008 documents medically necessary and appropriate care for transgender or transition-related treatment. More specifically, it articulates:

  • A professional consensus about psychiatric, psychological, medical and surgical management of care for individuals presenting with "gender dysphoria" (transsexualism);
  • Physician/health care provider protocols for diagnosis and assessment;
  • A guide to clinical decisions for medically necessary (reconstructive) treatments for individual patients; and
  • A flexible framework, rather than rigid rules, of appropriate care.

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