Menopause care wasn’t built for bodies like mine. So I built the gender-affirming menopause certification that was missing.
A gender-affirming menopause certification course for providers, doulas, and coaches ready to close the gap.
Menopause Care is Gender-Affirming Care.
The Gap in Menopause Care
There are 1.5 to 2 million AFAB trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people in the U.S. who may go through menopause. Yet most medical systems still aren’t ready to meet their needs.
Menopause is a life stage where this gap becomes hard to miss, and it can cause real harm. Every body deserves care that is informed, respectful, and empowering, no matter their gender, history, or hormonal pathway.
This isn’t a small group that’s easy to overlook. In fact, it’s well over a million people. Right now, they’re sitting across from providers who lack the training to meet them. Each appointment teaches them whether it’s safe to come back.
What’s more, the skills this training builds don’t stop at one population. Gender-affirming care means using precise language, paying real attention to what a patient is feeling, and staying comfortable with complexity instead of falling back on assumptions. So when providers build that fluency, they raise the standard of care for every patient they see, not only their gender-expansive ones.
In short, gender-affirming care is for every body, not only trans bodies. Clinical confidence takes updated frameworks, and patients deserve care that actually fits their bodies and lives.
Why I Built This Menopause Certification
When I realized I was in perimenopause over a decade ago, I couldn’t find a single provider who knew what to do with me. That wasn’t because they lacked skill. It was because nothing in their training had prepared them for a genderqueer body moving through this transition. So I’d sit in appointments explaining what I felt, and watch the conversation reach for language that didn’t fit me. Sometimes it was worse than that: language that undid years of work I’d done to feel at home in my own body.
Since there were no affirming options, I built my own path. I educated myself, trained as a menopause doula and coach, and wrote Genderqueer Menopause (North Atlantic Books, 2026), so no one else would have to piece it together alone the way I did.
That experience is why the Gender-Affirming Menopause Care Certification Course exists. I’m Lasara Firefox Allen, a certified menopause doula and coach, and an accredited menopause educator specializing in gender-affirming and trans & gender-expansive care (IAOTH). I built the training I needed and couldn’t find, so the providers ready to close this gap now have a way in.
If You’re a Menopause Care Provider Reading This
The Pattern You Know
You already know the feeling.
A gender-expansive patient sits across from you, or logs into the video call, and you feel it: the hesitation before you choose a word. Will “hot flashes,” “vaginal atrophy,” or “when did you go through the change” land wrong? Then comes the harder question: do you actually know how GAHT and MHT interact, or did what you just said reopen dysphoria you never meant to touch?
Perhaps a patient has gone quiet on you. Maybe one stopped coming back and you never fully knew why. Or you’ve caught yourself avoiding menopause conversations with gender-expansive clients altogether, not because you don’t care, but because you don’t feel equipped, and getting it wrong feels worse than saying nothing.
What Changes
Now picture the alternative. You walk into that same appointment steady. Because you understand why the language matters, clinically and personally, you don’t need a script. You can hold GAHT/MHT questions with real fluency, and you recognize dysphoria, grief, and euphoria as they show up in a menopause transition, so you know how to make room for all of it without flinching.
As a result, your gender-expansive patients start referring other gender-expansive patients to you. Colleagues start asking what you know that they don’t. Eventually, you stop dreading these conversations and start being one of the practitioners this community actively seeks out, because word travels fast about who gets it right.
That shift isn’t merely about becoming a different kind of provider; it’s about finally having the training you need and closing the gap for the patients or clients waiting for you to be ready.
Who This Menopause Certification Is For
Healthcare providers, doulas, menopause coaches, and wellness practitioners working with people in or around the menopause transition. This includes people experiencing menopause through natural ovarian aging, surgical intervention, or chemical suppression and induction.
Whether you’re a nurse practitioner, OB-GYN, therapist, acupuncturist, or health coach, you’re ready to expand your skills and deepen your practice. You’ll get real grounding in many new skills here.
What You’ll Learn in This Menopause Training
- Best practices in gender-affirming menopause care across multiple pathways
- How to assess, support, and refer patients navigating GAHT/MHT (gender-affirming hormone therapy and menopausal hormone therapy), with GAMC alumni and guest trainer Dr. Kristin Gianelis, DNP
- Inclusive, precise language frameworks that support dignity and clarity
- Trauma-informed strategies for dysphoria, euphoria, grief, and identity shifts that surface during menopause
- How to responsibly hold space for initiation, loss, and embodied transformation in clinical or coaching relationships
- Systemic and institutional frameworks for building safer, more accessible care environments
Menopause Certification Format & Features
- 8-week live online training, plus a bonus 9th live session for the graduation ceremony
- Fall 2026 Cohort: November 17, 2026 – January 26, 2027, Tuesdays 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET, with a two-week holiday break in December
- Downloadable resources, assessments, workbooks, and tools for immediate use
- Certification issued upon completion of the final module and integration assessment, IAOTH-accredited
- Option to be listed in the Certified Gender-Affirming Care Provider Directory (free for the first year)
- 15 seats for the Fall 2026 cohort, kept small for deep learning and personalized support
Why Gender-Affirming Menopause Care Matters
Gender-diverse people often delay or avoid care due to past medical trauma, misgendering, and provider knowledge gaps. This certification isn’t just professional development. It’s part of dismantling gatekeeping and expanding access to identity-honoring care.
This training is also an investment that pays off across your entire practice: the precision and attunement gender-affirming care requires becomes the baseline you bring to every patient, gender-expansive or not.
Join a growing network of certified providers changing the standard of care.
What Menopause Care Providers Are Saying
From Clinicians
“Mx. Allen is a leader in the genderqueer menopause space. Their course for clinicians was fantastic, allowing for deep personal and professional growth and interdisciplinary discussion. Lasara is also available for 1:1 consultations for complex situations and has been an invaluable resource to my practice.”Dr. Kristin Gianelis, DNP, APRN, ANP-BC, WHNP-BC, MSCP, CNE (she/her)
“Lasara’s Gender-Affirming Menopause Care certification course has been genuinely transformative for me, one of the most impactful learning experiences I’ve had in my career. Before this training, I was aware of gaps in access and inclusivity, but I hadn’t fully grasped how much everyday clinical language, assumptions, and systems contribute to those inequities. The course has completely shifted my perspective.”Dr. Claire Phipps, GP and Menopause Specialist (she/her)
“It’s clear that Lasara has put a lot of thought into making this course immediately actionable while creating a container that feels safe and non-judgmental, regardless of your starting point.”Vanessa Weiland, NP, MSCP, Nurse Practitioner, Menopause Specialist (she/her)
From Coaches, Educators & Advocates
“The most significant shift for me is better understanding the medical side of menopause in a gender-expansive context. I appreciate Lasara, first and foremost, for doing this work with so much heart and humility. The depth of their content expertise is apparent, but their flexibility, willingness to engage in hard conversations, and sincere desire to see everyone thrive are the qualities of a truly excellent teacher.”Dr. Sarah Glasco, Author & Speaker, Co-host of the ADHD Peri Punks Podcast (she/her)
“Before I took this course, I thought gender-affirming menopause care was something you could learn by reading journals and listening to podcasts. I was wrong. This course opened my heart and my mind to relate deeply to the struggles of gender-expansive people. The biggest shift in my thinking is recognizing that gender-affirming menopause care is menopause care, period.”Roisin McGlynn, Menopause Coach & Yoga Teacher (she/her)
“Thanks to this course, I’m expanding the inclusivity of the language I use for our bodies and gender-affirming care as trans people. My passion for working with and for trans health equity in Puerto Rico has been fueled by what I’ve learned, and I carry forward the affirmation that our transformations are as infinite as we are.”Amadore Figueroa Palmer, Public Health Specialist & LGBTQIA+ Health Equity Activist (them)
Menopause Certification FAQ
Can I take the course if I can’t be live on Zoom for all the sessions, or any of them?
Yes. You can take the whole course asynchronously if you prefer.
Can I take the course if I don’t have a background in menopause?
Yes, especially if you have a background in or practice centering gender-affirming care.
Do you offer payment plans?
Yes. Finances should never limit access. Reach out if you need a creative solution.
Are there scholarships available?
Yes. Giving-Back Grants are available for Trans and QTBIMPOC folx practitioners. Reach out to learn more and apply.
When will the course run again?
The current cycle runs once or twice a year, depending on demand. The Fall 2026 cohort is your soonest opportunity.
Is there another course like this?
No. This is the course where you learn the skills to build a gender-affirming practice.
Ready to stop guessing and start practicing with confidence?
Fifteen seats. One Fall 2026 cohort. The providers who fill these seats will be the ones this community trusts first.
Enroll Now — Fall 2026 CohortEarly bird: $1,500 | Regular registration: $2,000