LGBTQIA+ Clinical Services at UPMC: Expert and Inclusive Care

Health care disparities are gaps in health and health care between groups of people. These can include changes in disease, injury, or violence rates and access to health care, medicine, or opportunities.

These gaps in care occur because of unequal experiences, backgrounds, resources, or treatment of people in certain groups.

People who face health care disparities tend to have disadvantages compared to others. These could be social, economic, or environmental.

Society and social centers — such as schools, hospitals, and city services — can take steps to reduce these gaps in care.

UPMC's HealthBeat blog also offers:

• Breast Cancer in the LGBTQIA+ Community
• LGBTQIA+ Health Disparities and How to Reduce Them

Some health issues occur more often among LGBTQIA+ men and women than among straight people.

These include:

• Anal cancer in people who have sex with men.
• Breast cancer.
• Chronic health issues like obesity and heart disease.
• Depression and anxiety.
• Drug or alcohol use.
• HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
• Prostate, testicular, and colon cancer.
• Romantic or sexual partner abuse.
• Suicidal thoughts and death by suicide.

Young LGBTQIA+ people often face greater risks to their health than other youth.

Compared to their straight peers, LGBTQIA+ youth:

• Face increased bullying and abuse.
• Use drugs or alcohol more often.
• Have higher rates of pregnancy and STIs, including HIV.
• Are less likely to use a condom or birth control.
• Are more likely to use alcohol or drugs before sex.

UPMC has a wide range of care for LGBTQIA+ men and women.

This group includes:

• Assigned male at birth.
• Assigned female at birth.
• Men who have sex with men.
• Women who have sex with women.
• Men and women who are gay, bisexual, asexual, and pansexual.
• Transgender men and women.

UPMC offers both HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and HIV Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (nPEP):

• PrEP helps reduce the chances of getting HIV and promotes safer practices, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, while also working to decrease the stigma related to HIV.
• nPEP is a quick-response plan that uses HIV medications after someone might have been exposed to the virus. If individuals get nPEP within 72 hours of exposure, they can lower their chances of getting HIV.

The UPMC Magee Center for Reproduction and Transplantation can help you:

• Preserve your fertility.
• Get pregnant.
• With endocrine and hormone-related disorders.

The UPMC Center for Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology can help you have a baby.

They offer access to third-party reproductive services such as:

• Donor eggs or sperm for IVF.
• Embryo donation.
• Finding a surrogate for pregnancy.

The Women's Health Physical Therapy at the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute cares for LGBTQIA+ women at all life stages.

They treat health issues such as:

• Back pain.
• Health problems that occur from cancer.
• Leaking urine.
• Loss of bladder or bowel control.
• Osteoporosis, or weakening of your bones.
• Pain during sex.
• Pelvic pain, weak pelvic muscles, or pelvic floor problems.

The LGBTQIA+ Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital offers evidence-based mental health care for adult members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The program provides support for those who are experiencing an abrupt or severe worsening of mental health symptoms related to:

• Life transitions or changes.
• Suicidal thoughts or attempts.
• Self-care and day-to-day living.

UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh offers LGBTQIA+ care to youth under 18 and up to 26 years old.

Our care doesn't stop at the age of 18 or 26. At the right time, the care team will help you move to adult care.

LGBTQIA+ youth include young people who are:

• Asexual.
• Gay, lesbian, bisexual or pansexual.
• Genderfluid.
• Intersex.
• Nonbinary.
• Transgender.
• Other queer young people.
• Pansexual or polyamorous.
• Still working out their identity.

The Gender and Sexual Development Program brings together care from all over UPMC Children's Hospital, including:

• Adolescent and young adult medicine cares for overall LGBTQIA+ youth and their families, and caregivers health needs.
• Endocrinology provides gender-affirming care or health care based on a person's sexual and gender identity.

Behavioral health at UPMC Children's can help LGBTQIA+ youth with issues such as:

• ADHD.
• Anxiety, fears, phobias, or worries.
• Depression or problems with mood disorders.
• Loss and grief.
• OCD.
• Well-being for those with chronic illness.

UPMC Children's gender and sexual development resources for youth and their families and caregivers offers:

A glossary of sexual and gender identities.

A parent outreach program where people can speak with the parents of transgender children.

Transgender fact sheets.

There's also info for transgender, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse teens and their families such as:

• Details about social transition, including binding, packing, and tucking.
• Facts about taking medicine for gender transition. These include puberty-blocking medicines for early and late puberty.
• Info about feminine and masculine hormone therapy for older youth.

These articles can help LGBTQIA+ youth and their families, caregivers, and loved ones as well:

• Coming Out.
• Coming Out as a Teen.
• Supporting a Gender-Diverse or Transgender Child.
• Support for LGBTQ Youth.
• Transgender Teens.
• UPMC Children's Is a Leader in LGBTQ+ Equality.
• UPMC HealthBeat Podcast: Suicide Prevention Among LGBTQ+ Teens.

We offer transgender surgery and other gender-affirming care at UPMC. This includes care for female-to-male (trans masculine) and male-to-female (trans feminine) people.

The UPMC Magee Center for Reproduction and Transplantation team treats gender dysphoria. They can help you get ready for gender-affirming surgery.

Trans people can also preserve their fertility at the Magee Center's Fertility Preservation Program.

UPMC's HealthBeat blog also offers:

• Facts on depression and anxiety in trans people.
• Tips for transitioning later in life.
• Ways to get ready for gender-affirming surgery.

Many people who are LGBTQIA+ may not fall under one label or identity. That's why UPMC caters to the unique needs of each gender-diverse person.

This includes people who are:

• Agender.
• Genderfluid.
• Gender neutral.
• Genderqueer.
• Nonbinary.
• Pangender.
• Third-gender.
• Two-spirit.
• Another gender identity.

Voice therapy and training at UPMC can help gender-diverse people with the sound and feel of their voice. A speech-language pathologist can help ensure your voice depicts and reflects your identity.

UPMC HealthBeat has posts on:

• What Is Gender-Affirming Care?
• What Is Gender Dysphoria?
• What You Need to Know About Gender-Affirming Care.

UPMC's Pittsburgh Area Center for Treatment of HIV (PACT) offers complete primary, specialty and social HIV care, including:

• Anal health care.
• Clinical trials for HIV infection.
• Free and private partner testing.
• Gynecologic care.
• Hepatitis C co-infection care.
• HIV support groups.
• HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (nPeP).
• Hormone therapy.
• Medical case management.
• Mental health care.
• Nutrition consults.
• Pain care.
• Pharmacy.
• Telehealth for people with HIV who live far from Pittsburgh and don't have local access to care.
• Treatment for alcohol or opioid use.

The UPMC Latterman Family Health Center in McKeesport also cares for people at risk for HIV or living with HIV.

The Resources, Education, and Comprehensive Care (REACCH) for HIV Program in central Pa.:

• Offers free and private HIV testing and primary care.
• Gives full health, dental, and social care for people of all ages living with HIV.
• Provides HIV classes, nutrition help, and PrEP.
• Can refer you to other health care experts.

Social care through REACCH includes:

• Care planning and medicine adherence support.
• Emergency housing and utility assistance.
• Financial aid for HIV-related care.
• Health insurance counseling and enrollment.
• Help to access local services.
• HIV support groups.
• Linkage to care.
• Local outreach, educational events, and HIV testing.
• Medical case management.
• Onsite mental health counseling.
• Outreach to those who've fallen out of care.
• Transportation to and from health care visits.

UPMC offers gender-affirming surgery including trans masculine and trans feminine top and bottom surgery.

Top surgery at UPMC includes:

• Breast enhancement.
• Breast size increase.
• Mastectomy.

Bottom surgery includes:

• Male urinary and reproductive techniques.
• Female urogynecology procedures.

We also specialize in techniques to:

• Create a penis using current genital tissue (metoidioplasty).
• Create a penis using other tissue (phalloplasty).
• Reduce the vulva lip (labiaplasty).
• Reconstruct the urethra (urethroplasty).
• Remove all or part of the vagina (vaginectomy).
• Remove the testicles (orchiectomy).
• Remove the uterus (hysterectomy).

Ear, nose, and throat experts at UPMC can do:

• Vocal cord surgery.
• Vocal therapy.
• Other vocal care at the UPMC Voice Center.

UPMC also offers facial surgery to make you look more feminine or masculine.

Facial options include techniques to:

• Increase cheek and malar.
• Decrease or increase Adam's apple (tracheal shave or grafting).
• Lift the brow.
• Move the hairline forward.
• Rebuild the chin.
• Recontour the jaw.
• Reduce the forehead (cranioplasty).
• Reshape the nose.
• Set back the sinus.