Free Letter Program for those seeking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Gender Affirming Surgery
**If you are a client of Prospect Therapy, you can get your letter through your clinician for no additional charge and avoid the Free Letter waitlist. This program is for people seeking a letter and do not want ongoing therapy services or who cannot afford services at this time. If you would like to begin therapy services and also want a letter, please fill out this inquiry form. If you are already seeing one of our clinicians, reach out to them or mention needing a letter at your next session.**
Do I need a letter?
First of all, it sucks that you need letters to make decisions about your own healthcare and your own body.
In California, if you are over 18 and are seeking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to support your transition - you don't need a letter.
You can find a medical provider (physician, ob-gyn, endocrinologist, advanced practice nurse, physician assistant) who is familiar with gender dysphoria and who can evaluate your ability to provide informed consent to HRT. They can prescribe you hormones to support your transition without needing a letter from a therapist. *Some providers may still require a letter as part of their policy. But it is not required by California law.
If you need some names of providers (or if you are a provider) who offer this service, please contact us.
If you are seeking gender affirming surgery, your surgeon may require more than one letter. This is true whether you are planning to use insurance or not. Some surgeons’ offices will explain what needs to be in your letter.
Please note we are master’s level therapists, not doctorate level psychologists or psychiatrists. You may need one of each. But it’s cool - we know people we can connect you with.
OK I need a letter, can you help me?
Yes, if you are a resident of California. Please submit your request below and we will contact you with next steps.
We encourage people to check www.thegalap.org for providers nationwide who offer this service for free, especially if you need this service ASAP.
Our waitlist for this service is usually about 2-3 months out.
Once you submit a request, our Letter Access Coordinator Nik will email you back with next steps, usually within 7 days. Nik will be able to tell you how far out the waitlist currently is, and what month you can expect to be contacted in the future to set up your free appointment to secure your letter.
Nik Stancil, Letter Access Coordinator
What are you going to ask me?
We’re not here to decide if you are “trans enough.” Just that you are an adequate candidate for the procedure or medical support you are seeking and have prepared a reasonable amount. (Have you planned out aftercare, are you able to take care of basic needs while recovering, are you familiar with the expected risks and benefits of the procedure, etc.)
Between your consultation and our appointment, we can usually cover everything we need. In order to ethically gather the information that needs to be in your letter, we may need to meet with you for more than one session.
Non-California Residents Click Here
What do you charge?
There is no charge.
What if I don’t Live in California?
Prospect Therapy clinicians are only able to provide services to people in California.
The Gender Affirming Letter Access Project is a nationwide network of clinicians who offer sessions and letters at no charge. Many offer online sessions if you reside within their state but are not local to their office.
SO THIS SERVICE IS FREE- ARE THE CLINICIANS WRITING THE LETTERS WORKING FOR FREE?
Our clinicians are paid for all of their work! While this service is completely free to you, our clinicians are compensated for their time writing letters by Prospect Therapy: it’s a win-win!
If you’d like to make a donation towards our letter program (and potentially increase the number of letters we can offer per month), you can do so on Venmo.