Background
Gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) are the hormones that some trans or non-binary people take to develop bodily changes which align more with their gender. The hormones are either testosterone, or oestrogen and an anti-androgen. Sometimes this is also referred to as hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
We know from overseas research that GAHT can improve people’s wellbeing. We also know that it is uncommon for people to choose to stop hormone therapy. But some people do stop and there are many reasons which contribute to this decision. There is no New Zealand research about the impacts of GAHT on people’s wellbeing in New Zealand, including people stopping or pausing GAHT.
What is the Wellington GAHT Survey?
This is a one-off anonymous survey for people who have started gender affirming hormone therapy in the Wellington region between 2017 and 2021. The survey should take about 10 minutes or less to complete. It asks questions about your experiences of being on gender affirming hormone therapy and whether you are still using hormone therapy. If you have paused or stopped gender affirming hormone therapy, we are keen to understand more about your experiences.
You can access the survey via the link which was emailed directly to you. This takes you to the survey which you can complete online. For most questions, you just need to tick boxes to indicate your response, but some questions allow you to share more details.
A small number of people will be invited for an interview over Zoom with Rona (or another interviewer if Rona has been your GP). An interview allows you to tell us in greater detail about your experience with GAHT. If you are interested in doing an interview, you can provide your contact details at the end of the survey. This is optional - you can still complete the survey without giving your details and without doing an interview.
You will find more detail in the full participant information sheet included as an attachment in the email we sent to you.
Why should I consider taking part?
This project aims to fill some of the research gaps by finding out more about people’s experience of taking, and potentially pausing or stopping GAHT in New Zealand. Your experiences, no matter how ordinary or extraordinary, are valuable. By understanding more about your experiences, we can better inform health professionals and the trans and non-binary community about hormone therapy outcomes. While this study may not benefit you individually, we hope it will help to improve the information people are provided with when they start hormone therapy, and it could also help to show Health NZ (Te Whatu Ora) and the Ministry of Health (Manatū Hauora) about what is important to people who are considering hormone therapy.
Our team
Team lead
The project is being led by Dr Rona Carroll who is doing this project to complete a Master of Primary Health Care degree. She is supported by a team of co-investigators and a community advisory panel.
Dr Rona Carroll (she/her)
Rona a GP working in gender affirming healthcare, a senior lecturer at the University of Otago Wellington and Vice-president of PATHA (the professional association for transgender health Aotearoa).
Co-investigators
Professor Angela Ballantyne (she/her)
Angela teaches medical ethics at the University of Otago, Wellington. Her research interests include research with human subjects, justice, vulnerability, reproductive technologies, and data ethics. She has served on national expert committees for covid immunisation policy and research ethics review and is currently on the National AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group and the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technologies. She has been President of the International Association of Bioethics.
Dr Sally Rose (she/her)
Sally is a senior research fellow at the University of Otago, Wellington whose research broadly focuses on improving aspects of health service delivery to promote equitable access and outcomes for all in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Dr Brian Corley (he/him)
Brian is an Endocrinologist working at Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley and a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Otago.
Dr Richard Carroll (he/him)
Richard is an Endocrinologist working at Wellington Regional Hospital and Wakefield Specialist Centre.
Jemima Bullock (she/her)
Jemima is a Clinical Psychologist working at the Endocrine Service at Wellington Regional Hospital. She supports adults (16 plus years) referred to the service, who wish to medically affirm their gender. She is a member of PATHA (Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa).
Advisory panel
Alex Ker (he/him)
Alex is a PhD candidate and trans health researcher. His areas include gender-affirming healthcare access and social determinants of trans people's wellbeing.
Ashe Yee (she/her)
Ashe is the manager of the Trans Health Research Lab at the University of Waikato. She was the lead author of the 2022 Counting Ourselves community report, and her research interests lie in the welfare and wellbeing of sexual, gender, and neurodivergent minority groups.
Megan Norris (they/them)
Megan is a PhD student in Education at the University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. Their research focuses on the service delivery of health professionals and what can be done to improve health outcomes for trans and non-binary populations
Professor Elizabeth Kerekere (she/her/ia)
Whānau a Kai, Ngāti Oneone, Te Āitanga a Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Co. Clare, Co. Tipperary
Elizabeth is Founder/Chair of Tīwhanawhana Trust, Chair of Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa, Board member of Mana Tipua and Adjunct Professor, School of Health, Te Herenga Waka University of Victoria. Several research projects use her Te Whare Takatāpui framework of health and well-being for takatāpui, Rainbow people and their whānau. It is currently being applied to the health system for trans perinatal and intersex care.
How can I take part?
At this stage the survey is only open to an already identified group of people who started GAHT in the Wellington region between 2017 and 2021. If you are eligible to take part, you should have been emailed an invitation to complete the survey.
Wellington GAHT survey results
Results are expected in late 2026 and will be shared here when available.
More information
If you have questions, please contact us.