diff --git a/httpx/config.py b/httpx/config.py
index 3d2fe1c..6d427b8 100644
--- a/httpx/config.py
+++ b/httpx/config.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import certifi
 from .__version__ import __version__
 
 CertTypes = typing.Union[str, typing.Tuple[str, str], typing.Tuple[str, str, str]]
-VerifyTypes = typing.Union[str, bool]
+VerifyTypes = typing.Union[str, bool, ssl.SSLContext]
 TimeoutTypes = typing.Union[float, typing.Tuple[float, float, float], "TimeoutConfig"]
 
 
@@ -40,9 +40,17 @@ class SSLConfig:
 
     def __init__(self, *, cert: CertTypes = None, verify: VerifyTypes = True):
         self.cert = cert
-        self.verify = verify
 
-        self.ssl_context: typing.Optional[ssl.SSLContext] = None
+        # Allow passing in our own SSLContext object that's pre-configured.
+        # If you do this we assume that you want verify=True as well.
+        ssl_context = None
+        if isinstance(verify, ssl.SSLContext):
+            ssl_context = verify
+            verify = True
+            self._load_client_certs(ssl_context)
+
+        self.ssl_context: typing.Optional[ssl.SSLContext] = ssl_context
+        self.verify: typing.Union[str, bool] = verify
 
     def __eq__(self, other: typing.Any) -> bool:
         return (
@@ -121,17 +129,7 @@ class SSLConfig:
         elif ca_bundle_path.is_dir():
             context.load_verify_locations(capath=str(ca_bundle_path))
 
-        if self.cert is not None:
-            if isinstance(self.cert, str):
-                context.load_cert_chain(certfile=self.cert)
-            elif isinstance(self.cert, tuple) and len(self.cert) == 2:
-                context.load_cert_chain(certfile=self.cert[0], keyfile=self.cert[1])
-            elif isinstance(self.cert, tuple) and len(self.cert) == 3:
-                context.load_cert_chain(
-                    certfile=self.cert[0],
-                    keyfile=self.cert[1],
-                    password=self.cert[2],  # type: ignore
-                )
+        self._load_client_certs(context)
 
         return context
 
@@ -155,6 +153,22 @@ class SSLConfig:
 
         return context
 
+    def _load_client_certs(self, ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext) -> None:
+        """
+        Loads client certificates into our SSLContext object
+        """
+        if self.cert is not None:
+            if isinstance(self.cert, str):
+                ssl_context.load_cert_chain(certfile=self.cert)
+            elif isinstance(self.cert, tuple) and len(self.cert) == 2:
+                ssl_context.load_cert_chain(certfile=self.cert[0], keyfile=self.cert[1])
+            elif isinstance(self.cert, tuple) and len(self.cert) == 3:
+                ssl_context.load_cert_chain(
+                    certfile=self.cert[0],
+                    keyfile=self.cert[1],
+                    password=self.cert[2],  # type: ignore
+                )
+
 
 class TimeoutConfig:
     """

How to configure TLS beyond client certificate and CA root certs?
Typically in requests you can use a __HTTPAdapter__ to hijack and set the SSL context and define what ciphers to use, how does one go about doing the same in __httpx__?
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index b587e93..20befa7 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -76,6 +76,15 @@ def test_load_ssl_config_no_verify():
     assert context.check_hostname is False
 
 
+def test_load_ssl_context():
+    ssl_context = ssl.create_default_context()
+    ssl_config = httpx.SSLConfig(verify=ssl_context)
+
+    assert ssl_config.verify is True
+    assert ssl_config.ssl_context is ssl_context
+    assert repr(ssl_config) == "SSLConfig(cert=None, verify=True)"
+
+
 def test_ssl_repr():
     ssl = httpx.SSLConfig(verify=False)
     assert repr(ssl) == "SSLConfig(cert=None, verify=False)"

pip install -e .[dev]
parse_log_pytest
requirements.txt
pytest
3.7
test-requirements.txt
pytest --no-header -rA --tb=line --color=no -p no:cacheprovider -W ignore::DeprecationWarning
attrs==24.2.0
brotlipy==0.7.0
certifi @ file:///croot/certifi_1671487769961/work/certifi
cffi==1.15.1
chardet==3.0.4
click==8.1.8
coverage==7.2.7
cryptography==44.0.2
exceptiongroup==1.2.2
flake8==5.0.4
flake8-bugbear==23.3.12
flake8-comprehensions==3.13.0
h11==0.8.1
h2==3.2.0
hpack==3.0.0
hstspreload==2025.1.1
-e git+https://github.com/encode/httpx.git@af907e85e175541289768e61ad21511cfa3ec1b7#egg=httpx
hyperframe==5.2.0
idna==2.10
importlib-metadata==4.2.0
iniconfig==2.0.0
isort==5.11.5
mccabe==0.7.0
mypy==1.4.1
mypy-extensions==1.0.0
packaging==24.0
pluggy==1.2.0
pycodestyle==2.9.1
pycparser==2.21
pyflakes==2.5.0
pytest==7.4.4
pytest-asyncio==0.21.2
pytest-cov==4.1.0
rfc3986==1.5.0
tomli==2.0.1
trustme==1.0.0
typed-ast==1.5.5
typing_extensions==4.7.1
uvicorn==0.22.0
zipp==3.15.0

name: httpx
channels:
  - defaults
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
  - conda-forge
dependencies:
  - _libgcc_mutex=0.1=main
  - _openmp_mutex=5.1=1_gnu
  - ca-certificates=2025.2.25=h06a4308_0
  - certifi=2022.12.7=py37h06a4308_0
  - ld_impl_linux-64=2.40=h12ee557_0
  - libffi=3.4.4=h6a678d5_1
  - libgcc-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libgomp=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libstdcxx-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - ncurses=6.4=h6a678d5_0
  - openssl=1.1.1w=h7f8727e_0
  - pip=22.3.1=py37h06a4308_0
  - python=3.7.16=h7a1cb2a_0
  - readline=8.2=h5eee18b_0
  - setuptools=65.6.3=py37h06a4308_0
  - sqlite=3.45.3=h5eee18b_0
  - tk=8.6.14=h39e8969_0
  - wheel=0.38.4=py37h06a4308_0
  - xz=5.6.4=h5eee18b_1
  - zlib=1.2.13=h5eee18b_1
  - pip:
      - attrs==24.2.0
      - brotlipy==0.7.0
      - cffi==1.15.1
      - chardet==3.0.4
      - click==8.1.8
      - coverage==7.2.7
      - cryptography==44.0.2
      - exceptiongroup==1.2.2
      - flake8==5.0.4
      - flake8-bugbear==23.3.12
      - flake8-comprehensions==3.13.0
      - h11==0.8.1
      - h2==3.2.0
      - hpack==3.0.0
      - hstspreload==2025.1.1
      - hyperframe==5.2.0
      - idna==2.10
      - importlib-metadata==4.2.0
      - iniconfig==2.0.0
      - isort==5.11.5
      - mccabe==0.7.0
      - mypy==1.4.1
      - mypy-extensions==1.0.0
      - packaging==24.0
      - pluggy==1.2.0
      - pycodestyle==2.9.1
      - pycparser==2.21
      - pyflakes==2.5.0
      - pytest==7.4.4
      - pytest-asyncio==0.21.2
      - pytest-cov==4.1.0
      - rfc3986==1.5.0
      - tomli==2.0.1
      - trustme==1.0.0
      - typed-ast==1.5.5
      - typing-extensions==4.7.1
      - uvicorn==0.22.0
      - zipp==3.15.0
prefix: /opt/conda/envs/httpx

tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_context
tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_verify_non_existing_path tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_verify_existing_file tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_verify_directory tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_cert_and_key tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_cert_and_encrypted_key[password0] tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_cert_and_encrypted_key[password1] tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_cert_and_key_invalid_password tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_cert_without_key_raises tests/test_config.py::test_load_ssl_config_no_verify tests/test_config.py::test_ssl_repr tests/test_config.py::test_timeout_repr tests/test_config.py::test_limits_repr tests/test_config.py::test_ssl_eq tests/test_config.py::test_timeout_eq tests/test_config.py::test_limits_eq tests/test_config.py::test_timeout_from_tuple tests/test_config.py::test_timeout_from_config_instance
httpx/config.py
httpx/config.py