IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v373y2025ics0277953625002953.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Welty, Heather

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Welty, Heather, 2025. "“Creating ourselves:” A qualitative analysis of DIY HRT practices in nonbinary adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 373(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:373:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625002953
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117965
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625002953
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117965?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rotondi, N.K. & Bauer, G.R. & Scanlon, K. & Kaay, M. & Travers, R. & Travers, A., 2013. "Nonprescribed hormone use and self-performed surgeries: "do-it-yourself" transitions in transgender communities in Ontario, Canada," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(10), pages 1830-1836.
    2. Miles S. Kimball & John G. Fernald & Susanto Basu, 2006. "Are Technology Improvements Contractionary?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1418-1448, December.
    3. Poteat, Tonia & German, Danielle & Kerrigan, Deanna, 2013. "Managing uncertainty: A grounded theory of stigma in transgender health care encounters," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 22-29.
    4. Stroumsa, D., 2014. "The state of transgender health care: Policy, law, and medical frameworks," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(3), pages 31-38.
    5. Arjee Restar & E. J. Dusic & Henri Garrison-Desany & Elle Lett & Avery Everhart & Kellan E. Baker & Ayden I. Scheim & S. Wilson Beckham & Sari Reisner & Adam J. Rose & Matthew J. Mimiaga & Asa Radix &, 2022. "Gender affirming hormone therapy dosing behaviors among transgender and nonbinary adults," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Sarpong, David & Ofosu, George & Botchie, David & Clear, Fintan, 2020. "Do-it-yourself (DiY) science: The proliferation, relevance and concerns," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    7. World Bank & UNICEF, 2011. "Situational Analysis," World Bank Publications - Reports 27331, The World Bank Group.
    8. Arjee Restar & E. J. Dusic & Henri Garrison-Desany & Elle Lett & Avery Everhart & Kellan E. Baker & Ayden I. Scheim & S. Wilson Beckham & Sari Reisner & Adam J. Rose & Matthew J. Mimiaga & Asa Radix &, 2022. "Correction: Gender affirming hormone therapy dosing behaviors among transgender and nonbinary adults," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-1, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nicole A. Francisco, 2021. "Bodies in Confinement: Negotiating Queer, Gender Nonconforming, and Transwomen’s Gender and Sexuality behind Bars," Laws, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Davide Costa, 2023. "Transgender Health between Barriers: A Scoping Review and Integrated Strategies," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-29, May.
    3. August-Rae, Brianna C. & Baker, Jonathan T. & Buzzanell, Patrice M., 2024. "“Not just rebellious, it's revolutionary”: Do-it-yourself hormone replacement therapy as Liberatory Harm Reduction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    4. Ann‐Christin von Vogelsang & Camilla Milton & Ingrid Ericsson & Lars Strömberg, 2016. "‘Wouldn't it be easier if you continued to be a guy?’ – a qualitative interview study of transsexual persons’ experiences of encounters with healthcare professionals," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3577-3588, December.
    5. Christoph Görtz & John D. Tsoukalas, 2013. "Sector Specific News Shocks in Aggregate and Sectoral Fluctuations," CESifo Working Paper Series 4269, CESifo.
    6. Molnárová, Zuzana & Reiter, Michael, 2022. "Technology, demand, and productivity: What an industry model tells us about business cycles," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    7. Kevin x.d. Huang & Jie Chen & Zhe Li & Jianfei Sun, 2014. "Financial Conditions and Slow Recoveries," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 14-00004, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    8. Francisco-Javier Escribá-Pérez & María-José Murgui-García & José-Ramón Ruiz-Tamarit, 2022. "The devil is in the details: Capital stock estimation and aggregate productivity growth—An application to the Spanish economy," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 21(1), pages 31-50, January.
    9. Christian Calmès, 2005. "Self-Enforcing Labour Contracts and the Dynamics Puzzle," Staff Working Papers 05-1, Bank of Canada.
    10. Andr? Kurmann & Christopher Otrok, 2013. "News Shocks and the Slope of the Term Structure of Interest Rates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2612-2632, October.
    11. Basu, Susanto & Fernald, John G. & Shapiro, Matthew D., 2001. "Productivity growth in the 1990s: technology, utilization, or adjustment?," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 117-165, December.
    12. Chang, Yongsung & Hornstein, Andreas & Sarte, Pierre-Daniel, 2009. "On the employment effects of productivity shocks: The role of inventories, demand elasticity, and sticky prices," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 328-343, April.
    13. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Manaresi, Francesco & Rachedi, Omar & Yurdagul, Emircan, 2021. "Minimum Wages and Insurance within the Firm," IZA Discussion Papers 14943, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Elstner, Steffen & Grimme, Christian & Kecht, Valentin & Lehmann, Robert, 2022. "The diffusion of technological progress in ICT," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    15. Piotr Ciżkowicz & Andrzej Rzońca & Andrzej Torój, 2019. "In Search of an Appropriate Lower Bound. The Zero Lower Bound vs. the Positive Lower Bound under Discretion and Commitment," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 20(4), pages 1028-1053, November.
    16. Neville Francis & Valerie A. Ramey, 2002. "Is the Technology-Driven Real Business Cycle Hypothesis Dead?," NBER Working Papers 8726, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Francis, Neville & Ramey, Valerie A., 2005. "Is the technology-driven real business cycle hypothesis dead? Shocks and aggregate fluctuations revisited," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(8), pages 1379-1399, November.
    18. Régis Barnichon, 2007. "Productivity, Aggregate Demand and Unemployment Fluctuations," CEP Discussion Papers dp0819, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    19. Luc Everaert & Francisco Simone, 2007. "Improving the estimation of total factor productivity growth: capital operating time in a latent variable approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 449-468, November.
    20. Monacelli, Tommaso & Sala, Luca & Siena, Daniele, 2023. "Real interest rates and productivity in small open economies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:373:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625002953. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.