Table 1 Definition of terms
From: Medical considerations in the care of transgender and gender diverse patients with eating disorders
Transgender | When someone’s gender identity is incongruent with their sex recorded at birth |
Cisgender | When someone’s gender identity is congruent with their sex recorded at birth |
Gender identity | A person's inward sense of their sex |
Gender diverse | A term to describe when one’s gender identity does not fit solely within the “male” or “female” gender binary |
Sex recorded at birth | The sex recorded on the birth certificate |
Gender expression | The outward presentation of an individual’s gender, which may include things like clothes, hairstyle, behavior, and interests |
Gender affirming hormone treatment (GAHT) | Medication that replaces the sex hormone profile with one that corresponds with a person’s gender identity in order to achieve physical characteristics that are more aligned with an individual’s gender identity |
Gender affirming surgery | Surgical interventions that seek to align physical characteristics with an individual’s gender identity |
Social affirmation | Changes to an individual’s name, pronouns, clothing and appearance to align with their gender identity |
Legal affirmation | Changes made to legal documents such as birth certificates, school documents and passports with updated names and gender markers |