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For the transgender community, traversing the landscape of doctors’ notes and official documentation can be a frazzling experience. If the trans community has been informed by anything, it’s pioneering access to healthcare for all queer folks.
So, how do you transition in Chicago?
The first step in attaining care is oftentimes a major limitation: insurance.
While many of the clinics and hospitals listed below don’t require referral from a medical or psychiatric professional, insurance can often require documentation to approve a claim; this usually entails a “dysphoria” diagnosis.
According to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s LGBTQIA+ Resources page, the students enrolled in SAIC’s AcademicBlue Student Health plan have access to gender affirming care/transgender coverage. This includes medical, psychological, and other counseling as well as surgery and hormone therapy. The major insurance provider in Illinois, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the parent to AcademicBlue, also provides coverage for counseling, surgery, and hormones, with coverage depending on an individual patient’s plan. Students who have HMO insurance plans may have limited or no coverage.
However, individuals who are not insured can work with specific clinics to mitigate costs through programs like GoodRX and sliding scale coverage.
Once students have located their insurance benefits and potential coverage for care, the next step is location. Where can you find clinics and hospitals that will provide a broad range of care, coverage, comfort, and accessibility?
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Something important to note when seeking out a provider for gender affirming care is whether or not they provide care on an “informed consent” basis or by psychiatric referral. Informed consent means that you, as the patient, give the provider permission to provide this care, given that you are informed about the potential risks and benefits. Most gender affirming care providers in Chicago have adapted this model, but most insurance providers still require a letter from a psychiatrist to provide coverage for the care.
Chart of where to get care:
HRT, Surgery, Informed Consent, Finnancial Assistance.
Howard Brown: Yes, No, Yes, Yes
Planned Parenthood, Yes, No, Yes, Yes
Rush Hospital, Yes, Yes, Yes, No
Uchicago Medicine, Yes, Yes, Yes for HRT, No
The Women’s Center: Yes, No, Yes, Yes
Northwestern Medicine’s Gender Pathway: Yes, Yes, Yes, No
Paragraph below with proximity:
Howard Brown, the Womens Health Center, UChicago Medicine, and Northwestern Medicineare accessible via public transit, and Rush Hospital and Planned Parenthood are within walking distance of the Sharp building.
“it was incredibly straightforward, this doctor was informed consent-based my doctor was fast and very respectful, i would definitely recommend them to others seeking gender affirming care”- Jaxon Mare (bfa 2026), Rush Hospital patient.
“For trans people with the school’s insurance, with other non-HMO insurance plans, and/or who are able to work and show proof of income, I would recommend Howard Brown,” said Fae Morgan (BFA 2026), a former Howard Brown patient.
“I’m very glad that I live in a place where I have access to trans healthcare and where my rights are being fought for and protected. That I’m able to go to the doctor’s office at all and be seen and respected is an amazing privilege right now. Because for me, I can’t imagine a life without being on Testosterone. It was life-changing and life-saving,” said Morgan.
Pie chart of where SAIC students access care:
41.7% recive care from the Howard Brown Health Center
41.7 Recive care from Planned Parenthood
8.3% Recive care from Rush Hospital
The rest recive care from other sources.
[Transition into Grens Bee’s Section]
But what if you don’t have insurance or all of this becomes illegal?
There is a community of trans people making do-it-yourself HRT.
Some say ways to get some of the similar effects as HRT from totally natural dietary paths! Spearmint tea and licorice root can block testosterone, and ingredients like garlic, eggs, and almonds can actually increase testosterone levels.
But there’s so much more to transitioning than just chemicals in your blood and what levels your hormones are at. There are many ways to get comfortable in your own skin.
We talked to trans people in the city about what they do to feel gender euphoria outside of HRT, and here’s what they had to say:
“It helps me to think about how I want to be perceived. That informs how I dress and present that day. If I’m feeling kinda dysphoric, I gotta go femme mode or find a really solid fit that I feel hot in,” said Bea Mitchell, a Chicago actress and writer.
“I would say 90% of my transition came down to who I was kissing. I changed my name after hooking up with someone because it clicked with me. That I wanted to be seen as a boy, ” said Adrien Regnier (BFA 2026), a Chicago tattoo artist and DJ.
If you need access to gender affirming clothes, groups like the Trans Chicago Empowerment Center host gender affirming pop-up closets with notice on their Instagram @transchicago so you can find out where and when they happen. Also, stores like Beatnix on Halsted, which carries a huge collection of affordably priced vintage and drag wear, including boots and heels in larger sizes, and Lovesick in Logan Square, which carries exclusively plus-sized clothes for mascs and femmes alike.
And if you’re looking for someone to kiss, there’s nothing that can be done to guarantee you’ll find someone for sure, but Cole’s Bar in Logan Square on Saturday nights usually has a good turnout of trans people looking to dance — and also there’s a photobooth. The Empty Bottle, also in Logan, has a similar crowd on nights where noise and hyperpop artists are playing, and Farrugut’s bar in Andersonville which has weekly trans girl nights, both of which have gender neutral bathrooms.
REMEMBER THE THREE DON’TS:
DON’T Put things in your body from unknown sources — but DO get blood tests regularly to make sure your levels are safe if you’re seeking DIY hormone therapy.
DON’T change your gender marker on your IDs right now, its unclear if you will get them back.
DON’T post publicly on the internet about DIY HRT. Keep your friends and family safe.
