Trans woman went months without hormones after US-funded clinic closed

Health-e News Trans woman went months without hormones after US-funded clinic closed When the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) transgender clinic where Kamogelo Moamogoe received her hormone treatment closed last year following cuts to US funding, she says she was given a prescription to buy her hormones herself, but was not told where she could continue receiving care.

Moamogoe, a 29-year-old transgender woman from Mofolo in Soweto, collected her final supply of hormones from the clinic in April 2025.

She says she received a three-month supply and a prescription to buy the medication from a pharmacy.

By August last year, her supply had run out.

Unemployed and unable to afford about R900 a month for her hormones, Moamogoe stopped her prescribed treatment until April this year.

Wits RHI told Health-e News that all its clients’ records were transferred to local clinics where arrangements had been made for continued care.

But Moamogoe says she received no formal communication telling her that she had been transferred or where she should go.

No money to buy hormones Moamogoe started transitioning in 2020 after learning about transgender healthcare services from her peers.

“I grew up a very feminine individual and I always observed myself as a girl.

I did not know much about transitioning growing up.

In my adult years I heard from my peers about transgender clinics.

That’s when I started to be interested and went to access healthcare services at WITS-RHI gender-affirming clinic”.

Initially, Moamogoe collected her hormone treatment monthly.

Her appointments were later extended to every two months and eventually every three months.