News & Commentary written by Dr. Susan Lacy

Susan Lacy, MD, FACOG, is a board-certified gynecologist who has been practicing in Memphis for over twenty years. Before starting at Modern Gynecology & Reproductive Health, in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee

Dr. Lacy provides a variety of comprehensive healthcare services to transgender patients, including hormone therapy for patients with gender dysphoria, fertility services, and reproductive healthcare. Dr. Lacy treats post-pubertal, transgender patients from ages 16 and up with hormone therapy. For transgender children who have not yet started puberty, she refers parents to a pediatric endocrinologist that specializes in providing that care.

Dr. Lacy currently treats 350-400 transgender patients. Of those 350-400 patients, twenty patients are currently under age 18. Sixteen other patients were minors when Dr. Lacy started treating them but are now over age 18.

When Dr. Lacy began to treat patients with hormone therapy for gender dysphoria in 2016, she had over 15 years of experience prescribing the same hormones to cisgender patients as part of her gynecologic practice.

If the Health Care Ban takes effect, Dr. Lacy will be prohibited from proving these treatments to her transgender patients because they relate to “discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity,” but she will be able to continue providing the same treatments to her nontransgender patients.

Many of her patients therefore require complete privacy, and Dr. Lacy believes that, as a medical provider, it is her duty and obligation to advocate on behalf of her patients who are unable to publicly advocate for themselves.

Dr. Lacy is concerned that if transgender youth cannot access hormone therapy through healthcare providers, some may resort to other methods of accessing care that include buying medication from unauthorized suppliers and using medication that they get from friends. This can lead to transgender adolescents taking the incorrect dosage, and some will not have their hormone levels monitored through lab work, which is vital for patient safety.