Gender-Affirming Care

Cornell Health’s services are guided and informed by best practices developed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). 

All Cornell Health providers and staff members receive basic training about working with gender-expansive students, and should use your chosen name and affirmed pronouns (if you have updated that information in myCornellHealth or you share it during your visit).

Providers on Cornell Health’s Gender Services team specialize in providing gender-affirming services, and will partner with you and take a sensitive and trauma-informed approach to your care.

As a patient or client of Cornell Health, you have the right to request the health care provider of your choice, ask questions and participate in decisions about your care, and to speak with a Patient Advocate if you need support related to the care you receive. You can also have one supporting visitor of your choice (any gender) accompany you when accessing Cornell Health’s services, including during clinical exams and consultations. Learn more about your Patient Rights.

Your care at Cornell Health is confidential. Health care records are completely separate from all other university records. Your information cannot be shared with anyone without your written permission, except if required by law or if necessary to protect you or others from a threat to health or safety. (Learn more by visiting our Confidentiality & Patient Rights page.)

• Cornell Health Bursar charges: Cornell Health visit and pharmacy costs are automatically applied to your Bursar account (unless you request to pay another way). Charges will appear as “Cornell Health services” on your Bursar bill and will not include any information about the type of service you received, or any personal health information.
• Charges billed to your insurance: Cornell Health bills students’ insurance plans as the primary payer for medical services. Your insurance plan’s explanation of benefits (EOB) statement will contain some brief information about your visit, including a “diagnostic code” that is required by insurance companies. For students who are on a parent’s or guardian’s insurance plan, the policyholder (parent/guardian) is the EOB recipient and may see that information. (SHP members: You are the primary policyholder for your plan and the sole recipient of your EOBs.) If you have concerns about the privacy of your EOB, refer to the FAQs on our Insurance & Billing page for guidance.

Yes! Students can get high-quality chest binders, tucking underwear, and transtape at the Cornell Health Pharmacy for no charge.

Each semester, students studying on the Ithaca campus can get (a) two chest binders or (b) two pairs of tucking underwear or (c) a transtape option (starter kit or two rolls) at no charge from the pharmacy. If you want additional items, please check with pharmacy staff for current pricing.

Chest binder options:

• gc2b binders
• For Them binders
• TomboyX compression tops
• Underworks tri-top binders

Tucking underwear options:

• TomboyX tucking underwear

Transtape options:

• Transtape starter kit
• 2 rolls of transtape of your choice 

How to order: 

• Order online by logging in to myCornellHealth and selecting "Pharmacy Requests" > "New Message" > "Send a message to the Pharmacy" > "Request gender-affirming supplies and/or fitting." In your message, indicate what product, brand, size, and color (etc.) you would like.
• OR you may go into the pharmacy and fill out an order form and give it to one of our pharmacy staff members. Order forms are located with our sexual health supplies.

We will contact you by secure message when your supplies are ready for pickup.

Request a fitting / samples:

Students may request a private fitting with our trained Gender-Affirming Supplies Consultant, Amanda Wyatt. During your fitting, you can get help taking measurements, see samples, and try on different products. 

To schedule a fitting, please send the pharmacy a secure message by logging in to myCornellHealth and selecting "Pharmacy Requests" > "New Message" > "Send a message to the Pharmacy" > "Request gender-affirming supplies and/or fitting."

For those ordering gc2b binders, this helpful video can help with sizing.

Additional binding / tucking / taping resources:

Our Gender Services providers recommend the following resources:

• Tips for Safer Binding (from LGBTQ+ healthcare provider Callen-Lorde)
• Tips for Safer Tucking (from LGBTQ+ healthcare provider Callen-Lorde)
• Transtape application instructions (from Transtape)

Cornell Health can provide gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) to students aged 18 and older. (If a student is under 18 years of age, Cornell Health will provide a referral for specialty care.) 

Cornell Health works under an informed consent model. You can work with a medical provider who specializes in transgender care to evaluate your individual needs, discuss treatment options, and access GAHT if appropriate. Our providers can also work with your home health care provider to continue care that you may have established elsewhere. Learn more about ...

• Gender-Affirming Hormones: Estrogen + Androgen-Blocking
• Gender-Affirming Hormones: Testosterone

Most appointments at Cornell Health – including gender-affirming medical appointments – have a $10 charge. CAPS Access Appointments (the first step to connecting with CAPS services) and group counseling sessions have no charge; individual counseling appointments have a $10 charge.

Specialty lab tests that require being sent to an outside lab will be billed to your insurance and may have an additional charge. Pharmacy prescription costs will depend on your insurance (check your plan for coverage and copays). 

Learn more about cost for care at Cornell Health. 

Students can access free tucking and binding supplies through the Cornell Health Pharmacy (see information above).

If you’re on Cornell’s Student Health Plan (SHP), most gender-affirming hormonal and surgical services are covered by your plan. See this SHP (Aetna) information for more detail.

If you’re on a Cornell employee endowed health plan, hormone therapy and certain medical procedures related to gender identity confirmation procedures are covered. The Aetna Clinical Policy Bulletin #0615 guides the medically necessary treatment protocol; treatments that are considered cosmetic in nature are not covered. The Empire Health Plan, however, does not offer gender confirmation surgery and several other therapeutic treatments. Please contact Human Resources for more details about employee plans. (NOTE: We do not provide transgender services for employees; however, students who are the children or spouse/partner of a Cornell employee may be covered by an employee plan.)

For students on other insurance plans, you should check your plan for details. Please note that many health insurance plans provide very limited coverage for gender-affirming hormone therapy and surgical procedures.

Important: For students initiating hormone therapy, your prescription may need to be pre-approved by your insurance before it will be covered, which may take some time. 

All prescriptions can be filled at the Cornell Health Pharmacy. Syringes, sharps disposal containers, and alcohol swabs are also available at the pharmacy. If you prefer, you can also request that our pharmacy staff send your prescription to another pharmacy of your choice. 

You have two options for sharps disposal at Cornell. You can collect your sharps and dispose of them through a local program, or you can purchase a sharps container from the pharmacy at Cornell Health. You may return full sharps containers to our pharmacy for safe disposal, at no charge.

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) offers individual counseling and group counseling related to gender identity, as well as Let's Talk drop-in consultation and other support.  

Cornell Health counselors can also help you secure an official gender dysphoria / gender identity disorder (GID) diagnosis, and provide letters required to initiate gender-affirming surgeries.

Updating your Cornell Health information to reflect your affirmed name, gender, and pronouns is easy!

1. Log in to myCornellHealth using your Cornell NetID and password.
2. Click on "Profile" in the menu.
3. Click on the relevant "Edit" buttons to update your chosen name, your gender identity, and your pronouns.

Please note that taking these steps will only change your name in myCornellHealth, which is accessible to Cornell Health's medical, mental health, and support staff.

It will not change your name elsewhere at Cornell ... including some external systems used by Cornell Health's Pharmacy and Lab. Those systems will use your legal name on file. (See information below about changing your legal name.) 

To change your chosen name in all university systems, you must update your "preferred first name" in Student Essentials. Detailed instructions are available on the Registrar's website. The LGBT Resource Center's Trans Resources at Cornell provides additional information about updating your name, pronouns, and gender marker.

If you are interested in legally changing your name, the Cornell Law School provides free legal assistance to help LGBTQ+ people with name changes and other legal needs.