Where To Find Gender Affirming Care Near Cicero

Illustration by Robin Carnilius

By Efrain Soriano

Editor’s Note: This article was inspired by Erin Reed's Informed Consent HRT Map.

My name is Efrain, she/they, and I am the Youth and Schools reporter here at Cicero Independiente. In support of all the queer people who call Cicero home, I wanted to create a comprehensive list of where transgender individuals can find gender-affirming care in Cicero. The kind of care that I know to be life-saving. 

However, the more research I did, the more I found myself hitting the same wall I did four years ago in 2021 when I first told my Primary Care Physician (PCP) I was transgender. My doctor looked at me a little shocked, and they quickly told me they had never had a transgender patient who wanted to go through a "transformation." After 10 minutes of being questioned by them, my doctor informed me that they couldn't help me. Unfortunately, Loyola University Medical does not offer gender affirming-care due to their religious beliefs. 

I then tried switching providers to see if a different medical institution would be more helpful. After a brief conversation with a new doctor, I was informed that I first needed one year of therapy and a signed letter from a psychiatrist to prove that I was indeed transgender and understood what I was doing to my body. For me, that would have been thousands of dollars in co-payments over a year so that they would believe in the truth that I had already lived for over a decade at this point.

And so there I was, limited by medical institutions that did not believe in providing life-saving care to their transgender patients. However, it was through these hurdles that I learned about the wonders of Informed Consent. 

Informed Consent refers to a medical practice in which you, as a patient, can authorize a treatment or procedure, such as Hormone Replacement Therapy, after having a detailed conversation with your doctor about all the risks or benefits of a given treatment. 

It was news to me that some medical institutions believe in listening to their patients, trusting that we know best about our gender identity, and trusting that we can understand the risks of any treatment or procedure we need. However, most, if not all, of these institutions currently lie outside of Cicero.

This is why I've created this guide to help you find the clinic near Cicero that provides HRT through informed consent tailored to your needs. Don't have insurance or find yourself living below the poverty line? We have options with sliding fee scales. You have insurance, but you can't find who accepts it? We've done that research for you! Don't have a car and are worried about how you'll get there? We calculated which clinics are most accessible via public transit. You may have a car, but you would rather stay closer to home. We've also got you covered!

You can begin by answering the questions below in our interactive tool. Alternatively, if you prefer to review the options yourself, a written list with every entry is provided below. I wish you luck and vitality in your pursuit of care, friends.

Coding by David Elutilo⬇️