Introduction: Increasing numbers of young people are seeking gender-affirming healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand, and although international studies report health and wellbeing benefits of early medical intervention, we have no published reports on the impact of health services in this country.
Methods: Transgender young people accessing a specialist service providing medical gender-affirming healthcare were invited to take part in a survey about their health and wellbeing.
Results: High or very high psychological distress levels were reported by 74% of respondents, with 39% being unable to access mental health support when needed.
Discussion: Although the proportion of transgender young people with high or very high levels of psychological distress was five times greater (74%) than for the general population of young people (14.5%) in Aotearoa New Zealand, it was not as large as the proportion found for transgender young people in a community study (86%) in which an unmet need for hormones was reported by 29%. This highlights the need for clear referral pathways to access specialist gender-affirming healthcare services in order to reduce disparities in mental health outcomes.