Email this article Social and medical practices of gender transition in Russia
- Authors: Chumakov E.M.1,2, Petrova N.N.2, Ashenbrenner Y.V.1, Azarova L.A.1, Limankin O.V.1,3,4
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Affiliations:
- St.-Petersburg Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 named after P.P. Kaschenko
- Saint-Petersburg State University
- North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov
- St.-Petersburg Institute of Postgraduate Improvement of Physicians-experts of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection
- Issue: Vol LIV, No 1 (2022)
- Pages: 11-22
- Section: Original study arcticles
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/1027-4898/article/view/97274
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.17816/nb97274
- ID: 97274
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Abstract
AIM. To examine the social and medical aspects of gender transition practices in Russia.
MATERIAL AND METHODS. An anonymous online survey of people living in Russia whose gender experience differed from the sex marker determined at birth was conducted. The final sample consisted of 588 respondents (aged 24.01±6.70), of whom 69.9% (n=409) were transgender male, 23.1% (n=136) were transgender female, and 7.3% (n=43) had a different gender identity.
RESULTS. There was a high frequency of social disadaptation among respondents (15.5% of the sample). Most respondents first reflected that their gender identity did not match their sex at birth and/or did not fit into the social framework during childhood or adolescence, with a peak at age 11–14 (39.8% of the entire sample). The age at which respondents began gender transition was overwhelmingly after adulthood, with a peak at age 18–25 (32.0% of the entire sample). More than half of the respondents (59.4%) who had medical body changes associated with gender transition initiated them on their own. Less than half of the respondents who were on hormone therapy (41.0%) had been monitored by an endocrinologist. The study showed a large proportion of people who already had medical body changes but had not changed sex marker on their IDs, with transgender women having the largest rate in this indicator.
CONCLUSION. The data obtained determine the relevance of developing a system of specialized medical care for transgender people with essential destigmatizing psychotherapeutic and psychiatric care for these people, as well as emphasize the need to study the availability of medical (psychiatric) care for transgender people living in Russia.
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##article.viewOnOriginalSite##About the authors
Egor M. Chumakov
St.-Petersburg Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 named after P.P. Kaschenko; Saint-Petersburg State University
Author for correspondence.
Email: chumakovegor@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0429-8460
SPIN-code: 2877-2154
Cand. Sci. (Med.), Assistant Professor
Russian Federation, 190121, St. Petersburg, Kanonerskaya str., 12; 199034, St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya nab., 7–9Nataliia N. Petrova
Saint-Petersburg State University
Email: petrova_nn@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4096-6208
SPIN-code: 3341-2372
Dr. Sci. (Med.), Prof.
Russian Federation, 199034, St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya nab., 7–9Yulia V. Ashenbrenner
St.-Petersburg Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 named after P.P. Kaschenko
Email: ashenbrenner22@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0032-1704
SPIN-code: 1092-0688
Psychiatrist
Russian Federation, 190121, St. Petersburg, Kanonerskaya str., 12Larisa A. Azarova
St.-Petersburg Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 named after P.P. Kaschenko
Email: azarova812@me.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1144-2782
Deputy chief physician
Russian Federation, 190121, St. Petersburg, Kanonerskaya str., 12Oleg V. Limankin
St.-Petersburg Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 named after P.P. Kaschenko; North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov; St.-Petersburg Institute of Postgraduate Improvement of Physicians-experts of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection
Email: limankin@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6318-7536
SPIN-code: 5228-1344
Dr. Sci. (Med.), Prof.
Russian Federation, 190121, St. Petersburg, Kanonerskaya str., 12; 191015, St. Petersburg, Kirochnaya str., 41; 194044, St. Petersburg, Bolshoy Sampsonievskiy pr., 11/12References
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