Some online pharmacies seemingly do not require prescriptions or information about patient age for individuals seeking transgender hormones, according to a Do No Harm (DNH) report released Tuesday.
The new report, first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, also highlights a spate of resources DNH found which promote online pharmacies and other distribution networks for “homebrewed” transgender hormones, as well as guides on how to self-administer such hormones. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer at DNH, told the DCNF in a statement that the report “reveals how online pharmacies may enable minors to obtain cross-sex hormones with alarming ease.”
“From websites listing online vendors across the globe to marketplaces for ‘homebrewed’ hormones, we found a multitude of troubling pathways that appear to bypass basic safeguards and regulatory oversight,” Miceli said. “Gender-confused kids should not be able to purchase potent, experimental medications with just a few simple clicks. These hormones carry significant risks, including effects that can be irreversible.”
“We urge the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] and other federal agencies to investigate any potential unlawful sellers and, where appropriate, for states to do the same when their laws are being violated,” Miceli continued. “Protecting minors from unsafe and unregulated access to powerful cross-sex hormones must remain a priority.”
Transgender Map, a website which aims to teach people “how to make a gender transition,” lists several online pharmacies based in multiple continents from which minors can procure cross-sex hormones, adding that “getting hormones without a prescription is against the law,” according to DNH’s report. Transgender Map also notes that online pharmacies “may move or go out of business without warning” and that “things can change quickly,” per DNH.
Transgender Map claims on a guide titled “how to get hormones as a transgender minor” that “for young people who are sure they want to make a gender change, getting on hormone blockers and maybe hormones can help a lot, adding “you need to be sure, though.” The website also claims that “you need to know the other risks and side effects that can happen before starting.”
“If you wish to take that risk, go here,” Transgender Map tells users, before linking to a guide about how to order hormones online. Transgender Map was created by Andrea James, a transgender filmmaker and consumer activist who launched the website during their own gender transition.
James did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Moreover, another website, called DIYHRT.market, lists several pharmacies and so-called “homebrewers” where one may be able to bypass any age restrictions or prescription requirement in order to acquire transgender hormones like estradiol, a female sex hormone which can be used in male-to-female transitions, according to the report. The website also claims that “hormone replacement therapy (HRT)” for transgender people is “unquestionably beneficial” and that “there is clear statistical evidence that there are overwhelmingly positive outcomes on mental health and an overall improvement in quality of life.”
DIYHRT.market states it is “important to understand the risks” of using “homebrew” transgender drugs, because “there is a non-zero possibility of contamination or problems with the manufacturing process because these folks simply do not have the same resources that a multi-million dollar pharmaceutical company has.”
DIYHRT.market could not be reached for comment.
Some other websites, including HRT.Coffee and HRT Cafe, provides various information on pharmacies and other hormone vendors and also highlight a list of “unregulated” online pharmacies from which users can purchase hormones online, with language stating that these pharmacies do not require prescriptions, according to DNH’s report.
HRT.Coffee notes on its website that such suppliers “have been tested and verified by multiple people, but some suppliers are more reliable than others so consult with your communities if you are unsure who to pick or want to [minimize] risk.”
HRT.Coffee could not be reached for comment.
“I have no comment on your questions at this time however I want to clarify hrtcafe has never sold, nor taken money for hrt, nor shipped hrt to anyone, nor provided medical treatment in any way,” HRT Cafe told the DCNF in an emailed statement. “It is just a list of places already viewable on google. The sites we link to are entirely separate entities that we benifit from in no way. The site is not monetized nor takes donation.”
Meanwhile, MedsMex, an online pharmacy based in Mexico which ships to the U.S., includes in its FAQ page the following language: “No prescription to purchase any medicines in our pharmacy. By ordering from Medsmex you are agreeing that you are only purchasing medicine for your own personal use,” according to DNH’s research. The report also found that Inhouse Pharmacy, an online pharmacy based in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, says that it is “permitted” to process orders without prescriptions.
MedsMex and Inhouse Pharmacy each did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
However, DNH notes in its report that while “many of these pharmacies do not appear to require a prescription or verification of a customer’s age at any point before prompting the customer to submit payment information,” the organization was unable to “confirm that all of the listed pharmacies lack prescription or age verification requirements.”
“It may be possible that at some point following the entry of payment information, age and prescription information is required,” according to DNH’s report. “Indeed, several pharmacies included on the lists found on these transgender resource sites state that customers should mail or fax over their prescriptions after purchasing the drugs.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 which aims to protect children from “chemical and surgical mutilation. From 2019 and 2023, 13,994 minors underwent sex change treatments in the U.S., per the Stop The Harm Database.
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