Canadian doctors demand ability to offer child sex change services via video call

Some Canadian doctors want children to be able to access medical gender transition via video calls—and they don't even think those children should have to appear on camera to get it. A new book detailing the procedure for youth telemedicine reveals that doctors believe they should be able to offer sex change services to minors virtually, and that due to the potential for "distress" to those minors, they should not even have to show their faces on the video call.

While the scandal that is pediatric gender medicine falls out of favour across the Western world, physicians from the BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver are calling for easier access for kids to medically transition. Doctors argued that children should be able to obtain a medical transition without even appearing on camera to their healthcare team—claiming that could be "distressing" for the kids.

In a 2024 book on telemedicine for youth, physicians Carolina Silva and Brenden Hursh, of BC Children's Hospital, alongside researcher Smita Mukherjee, have said that there are too many barriers to Canadian children wanting medical transition, and that they should be able to do this via telehealth, "an easier, less costly way for trans youth access specialized care."

"Some important considerations for successful delivery of gender-affirming care via telemedicine include ensuring a welcoming and safe environment, offering to disable self-view if it is distressing for the youth, and creating a space for private and confidential discussions," the authors wrote. They argued that online care access would reduce fear of discrimination or "negative experiences" for youth identifying as transgender.

This publication comes on the tail of the final report of Dr. Hilary Cass, commissioned by NHS England, which revealed damning evidence that pediatric gender transition is a medical scandal not based on sound, or any, evidence. The UK has now banned puberty blockers for youth as a result. The Cass Review fallout has led to several countries further restricting or banning the medical transition of children and youth.