The Dutch approach : fifty years of transgender health care at the VU Amsterdam Gender Clinic

Alex Bakker, Hilde Bakker, Carl Buijs, Maureen Steiniger

In the early seventies, when hardly a doctor or hospital in the world was willing to offer medical care to transgender people, a few pioneers in the VU hospital in Amsterdam started a gender clinic. It evolved from a weekly consultation hour for people being treated with cross-sex hormones into a fully-fledged and internationally respected clinic for transgender health care. Some 10,000 people have now undergone gender-affirming treatment here and the Amsterdam Gender Team is known for its cutting-edge scientific research.