For gender-nonconforming people, getting medical care can be an uphill battle. In the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, the most recent issue of this report, 33% of transgender people who had seen a medical provider over the past year reported a negative experience, like verbal harassment or denial of care, and 23% had avoided doctors' appointments due to fear of such incidents.

On top of that, there's not nearly enough information out there about reproductive health for trans and nonbinary people. But regardless of how you identify, you deserve medical practitioners who respect your gender identity and understand your specific needs, one of which may be birth control. Depending on your anatomy and whether you're on hormone therapy, your decisions about birth control may require some considerations that you never learned about.

Here are some things that may be helpful to know before discussing birth control with your doctor.

1. There are knowledgeable, sensitive providers out there.

Because transgender and nonbinary people often face discrimination in health care settings, several organizations offer resources to find doctors who are knowledgable about gender identity, says Jennifer Clair Villavicencio, M.D., clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health has a provider directory search feature on its website, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association has a database of LGBTQ-friendly providers.

Simon Adriane Ellis, an advanced registered nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife, recommends asking other trans or nonbinary people you know or meet in online communities for their recommendations. If your city has a gender center or LGBTQ community center, you can also contact them or check their website. In addition, if you've been able to work with any health care providers in the past who have been sensitive to your needs, you can ask them to refer you to somebody who's able to prescribe birth control, says Laurie Ray, a nurse practitioner, and a science writer for the health app Clue.

"A comfortable and affirming environment is key to getting great care, and people should be feel empowered to find a provider who can offer that," says Villavicencio.

2. Birth control can be used for more than just birth control.

Some people who menstruate and don't identify as female find that their periods trigger gender dysphoria, a feeling described by the American Psychiatric Association as "a conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify." Going on birth control can be a way to suppress menstruation if you want to minimize feelings of dysphoria, says Villavicencio.

If you want to stop getting periods, Ellis says the best birth control methods are the levonorgestrel IUD, like Mirena, and birth control pills used continuously — that is, you take the pills that affect your hormones month-round rather than taking sugar pills for a few days each month. "The Depo Provera shot and the implant also often get rid of periods, but not as predictably as the IUD or the pill," they say.

3. Hormone therapy won't prevent pregnancy.

While hormone therapy generally decreases fertility, it does not eliminate it altogether, says Ray. In fact, even if hormone therapy has caused your periods to stop, you may still be ovulating. The need for birth control while on hormone therapy applies to those with penises as well as those with vaginas, as estrogen does not always stop sperm from developing in the testicles, Ray adds.

"Same as with people taking testosterone: We know that fertility is reduced for trans women when they are on hormone therapy but that it is still possible to get someone pregnant," says Ellis. "Any time two people have sex and sperm and egg can meet, and do not want a pregnancy, it is the responsibility of both partners to help prevent a pregnancy from happening — it's not just the job of the person who can get pregnant."