I am a member of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH). I practice under an informed consent model in line with the Standards of Care which they publish, most recently updated in 2025.

What is the informed consent model of care?

The following information is taken from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care fact sheet (emphasis my own).

Informed consent is a person's agreement, given voluntarily, to medical treatment, procedure or other intervention. This requires provision of accessible, accurate and relevant information about the intervention, and the expected outcomes, benefits, risks and alternative options, relevant to that person.

You have the right to make choices and decisions about your health and care. Informed consent is both a process and an outcome that recognises and respects your healthcare rights. It is an important part of person-centred care which is care that respects you, your family and carers and responds to your needs and values.

When done well, informed consent:

• Enables you to understand the risks, benefits, alternatives, possible outcomes and costs of medical treatment and tests

• Supports you to weigh options and make decisions about care and treatment plans, based on your needs and preferences

• Can have a positive impact on your healthcare experience and outcomes.

What does this practically mean?

• You will not need to prove you are "trans enough" or "dysphoric enough" to warrant hormone therapy.

• We will discuss what to expect from hormone therapy including different methods and their risks, benefits and costs.

• I will do my best to answer any questions you have.

• If or when you feel ready we will proceed with whichever HRT method we agree is most suitable for you.

• You can change your mind at any time.

My typical GAHT appointment structure

1. We'll meet for a 60 minute face-to-face appointment. In this appointment:

   • We'll explore your goals for your gender affirmation journey

   • We'll discuss the safety of GAHT and any risks unique to you

   • I will check your heart rate, blood pressure, height and weight

     • I know weight is a sensitive topic for a lot of people; please let me know and I am happy to do what I can to make you as comfortable as I can.

   • We'll explore which type of GAHT is most appropriate for your individual situation

   • We'll go through a consent form

   • I'll give you a request form to do a blood test before beginning GAHT. This is so that we have some baseline levels to compare against in the future.

   • If there are no obvious safety issues I will provide you a prescription for GAHT

2. You get your blood test done

   • For AMAB people I would like this be done between 8-10am while fasting, but this is not essential

   • For AFAB people I would like this to be done while fasting, but this is not essential

   • Some people choose to do the blood test right after the appointment for convenience

3. If you are wanting to go for fertility preservation (i.e. sperm freezing, egg freezing), finish this process first before starting to take your hormones

4. Start taking your hormones

5. We will catch up in a few months to discuss progress and make adjustments to the plan

   • Follow up appointments are typically 20 minutes

   • I know many people travel a long way to see me. While I always enjoy seeing people face to face I am happy to have follow-up appointments be via telehealth.