Dr. Huong Diep joins me to discuss pregnancy loss in the transgender community. Huong is a trilingual (English/Spanish/Vietnamese) board-certified psychologist specializing in global mental health utilizing a culturally sensitive, trauma-informed model that promotes strength and resiliency. She is passionate about the intersection of language, gender, and culture and providing gender-affirming care to the LGBTQ+ community.
Highlights include:
4:50 – HD: “So then you can imagine for somebody who is identifying as transgender and then maybe on top of that, a transgender person of color, and then a pregnancy loss, we can see the potential compounding layers of the medical hurdle that one has to face in terms of even trying to get pregnant. And then the hurdles of finding healthcare providers and medical providers who are willing to support these folks in their journeys.”
6:19 – HD: “It’s definitely something that’s in the curriculum now. So I think for current medical students and residents, folks who are in their residencies and everything, they’re starting to get training. But if we look back – and I started working with the transgender community over 10 years ago – and definitely over 10 years ago, unfortunately, there was still a very much gatekeeping model that still pathologized folks who identified as transgender, and saw it as a potential mental illness.”
8:52 – HD: “60% of those respondents (to the 2011 National Center for Trans Equality study) have stated that they haven’t gone to see a doctor because of fear of being mis-gendered.”
16:10 – HD: “If, as a surgeon, let’s say, if you’re using an outdated technique that was hurting your patients, that would definitely not fly in the medical community or in the hospital. You would be sanctioned, you know, for that. And there would be extensive training to get everyone up-to-date on the newest procedures.”
Leading with Health is hosted by Jennifer Michelle. Jennifer has a Master’s in Public Health and Epidemiology and is a former EMT. As President of Michelle Marketing Strategies, Jennifer specializes in healthcare marketing. She is on a mission to create a healthcare system that actually cares about the patients and the providers.