Story No. 308: Dr. Jessica from Maryland

This summer, I met Ben (name changed) a transgender adolescent who identifies as male. Ben was vivacious, funny, and most of all he told me that he wanted to stop his heavy periods and not get pregnant (he has male partners). We discussed different methods of hormonal medication and he decided on the Mirena IUD, which can lighten bleeding and sometimes even stop periods. He had it placed in my office and has enjoyed the method since then. Reproductive health care is crucial to my LGBT patients, and I am lucky to be able to provide this service to them with few barriers.