In English
Trasek is a Finnish association for transgender and intersex rights. Trasek advocates for human rights, anti-discrimination measures as well as proper medical care for transgender and intersex individuals.
Trasek advocates self-determination to gender, and separating the juridical gender recognition and medical treatment.
We can be reached by email with hallitus (at) trasek.fi (the whole board) or neuvonta (at) trasek.fi (advice). Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’ve had any problems obtaining care or with other trans or intersex issues.
Access to treatment
If you are a resident in Finland and want to start the gender reassignment process, you should ask your doctor to refer you to one of the University Hospitals (in Helsinki or in Tampere). The note below explains the procedure (in Finnish) – print it out and bring it to your doctor. It should make it easier for the doctor to write the necessary referral. Any doctor can refer you to the trans care teams, be aware that you do not need to go through any further investigations beforehand in order to get access to treatment – Finnish law guarantees you the right to a referral.
How to refer a patient to gender identity examination (In Finnish)
Legal gender recognition in Finland
Finland currently (2016) legally recognizes the gender of a transgender person provided that the person in question fulfils certain criteria laid down in the Transgender Act. An unofficial translation of the act is provided below:
Core services are provided by the National Public Health System. Care is based on two Transgender Health Programs one at the Helsinki University Hospital and one at the Tampere University Hospital. This is based on a decree by the Ministry of Health and Social Security. An unofficial translation is provided below:
The medical care of intersex individuals is not as well organised as that for transgender people. It is more left to the individual health care professionals to decide together with the patient or in case of minors, with parents, what action to take.
Other resources
There is a transgender support center, Transtukipiste, in Helsinki that is run by Seta (the national LGBTIQ+ association). Transtukipiste is financed by the state. To some degree, Transtukipiste can offer limited services in English, too. They can be contacted by phone or by e-mail. Transtukipiste runs a number of peer support groups. Some groups are arranged by local Seta chapters as well.
Transtukipiste contacts (in Finnish, but you should be able to figure out names, numbers and e-mail addresses)
There is a national transvestite association, Dreamwear Club, or DwC for short. DwC has bimonthly meetings in the premises of Transtukipiste in Helsinki. DwC can be reached through their web site: