The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care 8 are published here. You can also view them on the PATHA website here. Below is from the WPATH Press Release:
Following five-years of rigorous scientific effort by more than 120 health care clinical and academic professionals across the globe, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has released the Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8 (SOC8). Building upon the Standards of Care Version 7, which were released in 2012, the SOC8 provides clinical guidance for health care professionals to assist transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people with safe and effective pathways to achieve lasting personal comfort with their gendered selves, and to maximize their overall health, psychological well-being, and self-fulfillment. This assistance may include primary care, hormonal or surgical treatments, gynecologic and urologic care, reproductive options, voice and communication therapy, and mental health services (e.g., counseling, psychotherapy), among others.
“The Standards of Care 8 represents the most comprehensive set of guidelines ever produced to assist health care professionals around the world in support of transgender and gender diverse adults, adolescents, and children who are taking steps to live their lives authentically,” said WPATH President Walter Bouman, MD, PhD, and WPATH President Elect Marci Bowers, MD. “Health care is a human right. All trans-identified people on this planet deserve the same opportunity to be their true selves and have access to the medically necessary affirming care that allows them to do just that. The field of transgender medicine is evolving rapidly, responsive foremost to the needs of patients and their families and guided by objectivity, compassion, and consensus. We are thrilled to provide this vital resource to support transgender and gender diverse people worldwide.”
The SOC8 guidelines committee consisted of multidisciplinary subject matter experts, health care professionals, researchers and stakeholders with diverse perspectives and global geographic representation. Consensus of final recommendations were based upon extensive reviews of the literature and were attained using an iterative Delphi process, which involved multiple rounds of revisions based upon careful review by the authorship team that included all members of the guidelines committee.
In December 2021, a draft of the SOC8 was released to the public for review and comment. WPATH received thousands of comments on the guidelines. All were read and taken into consideration during the editing phase of SOC8. “Watching with great pride and respect as the entire SOC8 revision committee worked in a collaborative way to develop these robust, and revised guidelines was a phenomenal experience,” said Blaine Vella, WPATH’s Executive Director. “The authors worked tirelessly, as volunteers, to ensure that their chapters were representative, balanced, and contained the most current scientific data and clinical experience available. All this in the knowledge that the SOC8 will continue to offer access and knowledge to the health and wellbeing of all transgender and gender diverse people across the globe.”
“The Standards of Care 8 is here to help people get the care they need so they can live healthy, happy lives. We are not starting from scratch. We are building upon decades of research and clinical experience,” said SOC8 Co-Chairs, Eli Coleman, PhD, Jon Arcelus, MD, PhD, and Asa Radix, MD, PhD, MPH. “The SOC8 is the most expert, nuanced, evidenced-based and consensus-based document internationally. The authors come from a variety of disciplines working in transgender health. All have done their utmost to serve a broad public and a broad area of health care providers with guidelines they can work with in different places around the world. We hope it serves the quality of care for transgender people.” Link to full Standards of Care 8 here.
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WPATH is an international, multidisciplinary, professional association whose mission is to promote evidence-based care, education, research, public policy, and respect in transgender health. Founded in 1979, the organization currently has over 3,000 health care professionals, social scientists, and legal professionals, all of whom are engaged in clinical practice, research, and education that affects the lives of TGD people. WPATH envisions a world wherein people of all gender identities and gender expressions have access to evidence-based healthcare, social services, justice, and equality.
