“Creating ourselves:” A qualitative analysis of DIY HRT practices in nonbinary adults

Heather Welty

Social Science & Medicine, 2025, vol. 373, issue C

Abstract: Engaging in ‘do it yourself’ hormone replacement therapy (DIY HRT), including accessing hormones through non-medical pathways or self-altering one's prescribed dosage, is a common way trans people fulfill their transition-related needs. Although extant research has primarily focused only on binary trans populations, “DIYing” is particularly salient for those who are not seeking a binary transition. This paper shares findings from a qualitative, in-depth interview-based study with nonbinary adults who engage in DIY HRT practices and medical providers who prescribe HRT. Through participant's narratives, DIY HRT emerged as both a mode of knowledge production, a site of communal care, and a practice through which participants could support themselves and their communities and achieve bodily autonomy. These findings indicate that nonbinary trans people may opt to DIY due to systemic disinvestment in the production of knowledge and quality care within trans healthcare, choosing instead to engage with the wealth of knowledge and resources that exist in DIY HRT sites and communal care networks.

Keywords: DIY HRT; Transgender healthcare; Nonbinary; Bodily autonomy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625002953
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:373:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625002953

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117965

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().