gender transition

noun

plural gender transitions

: a process by which a transgender or nonbinary (see nonbinary sense c) person comes to live in accordance with their gender identity through changes to their appearance and presentation often with the aid of medical procedures and therapies

Note: While many associate gender transition with a process that involves hormone therapy, gender confirmation surgery and legal name change, the term is also applied more broadly, since what transition involves can vary a great deal from person to person. In some cases, for example, the term gender transition may simply refer to the adoption of new personal pronouns and/or a change in clothing, hairstyle, etc.

For transgender people who are insured, barriers to care can persist, as private insurers have historically excluded coverage for medical interventions related to gender transition.

—Jaclyn M. White Hughto et al.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires women who are transgender like me to complete 12 months of hormone therapy to suppress testosterone as part of their gender transition before competing.

—Lindsay Hecox

Examples of gender transition in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The House bill text also included a provision prohibiting Obamacare marketplace insurance plans from including gender transition procedures as an essential health benefit. —Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 1 July 2025

The three main changes House Republicans want to make are to ensure immigrants who are in the United States without legal authorization can’t enroll; create work requirements to be on the program; and prevent federal funding from being used for gender transition care. —Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 24 June 2025

Banning Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care The House bill also prohibits federal Medicaid funding from covering gender transition services for children and adults, including surgeries, hormone therapy and puberty blockers. —Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 29 May 2025

Continue reading … 'DEVASTATING LOSS' – Media melts down over Supreme Court decision on gender transition ban for kids. —FOXNews.com, 19 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gender transition

• academician
• cycloaddition
• decomposition
• diagnostician
• disinhibition
• indisposition
• interposition
• juxtaposition
• mathematician
• metacognition
• metaphysician
• neurotransmission

Medical Definition

gender transition

noun

: a process by which a transgender or nonbinary person comes to live in accordance with their gender identity through changes to their appearance and presentation often with the aid of medical procedures and therapies

Note: While many associate gender transition with a process that involves hormone therapy, gender confirmation surgery, and legal name change, the term is also applied more broadly, since what transition involves can vary a great deal from person to person. In some cases, for example, the term gender transition may simply refer to the adoption of new personal pronouns and/or a change in clothing, hairstyle, etc.

Gender transition can refer to social transition, physical transformation, or both. Many transgender … people do not seek medicalized assistance for transition, which can involve delays other than those created by medicine …

—Victoria Pitts-Taylor, Health

Studies examining the effects of hormonal gender transition during adolescence suggest that these transgender individuals experience decreased gender dysphoria, score more favorably on various psychological instruments than transgender people treated in adulthood, and function similarly to their peers.

—Deborah Coolhart et al., Journal of Marital & Family Therapy