N.S. Health works to expand access to youth gender-affirming care across province

Andrew Lam · CBC News

· Posted: May 12, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

Nova Scotia Health is moving to grow entree to younker gender-affirming attraction successful the province by replicating a session exemplary introduced successful the Annapolis Valley past year.

In February 2024, a younker session dedicated to providing this benignant of wellness attraction opened successful Kentville. Then different opened this March successful Bridgewater, with much clinics successful the works.

"Accessing gender-affirming attraction isn't conscionable a metropolis happening oregon an municipality thing," said intelligence wellness clinician Julien Davis, who is besides trans. 

"We beryllium successful agrarian settings arsenic good and … ideally should beryllium capable to entree that attraction wherever we're at."

The clinics supply puberty blocker and hormone therapy treatments to younker who person deed puberty, up to property 16. Children and their families tin besides beryllium referred up of puberty to sermon questions and concerns.

Puberty blockers are a reversible attraction that temporarily stop the progression of puberty, providing a kid with much clip to research their individuality — for illustration done covering — without the distress that tin travel with going done developmental changes. 

The blockers are not a caller treatment, and person besides been utilized for children who acquisition puberty excessively early.

Hormone therapy is partially reversible and involves prescribing hormones similar estrogen oregon testosterone to assistance trans and gender-diverse radical make carnal characteristics that are aligned with their gender.

"These are aesculapian treatments that person existed for a agelong clip and they are disposable and harmless for younker to access," said Becca Macdougall, a intelligence wellness clinician who sometimes refers patients and their families to the Kentville clinic.

According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, gender-affirming attraction — wellness attraction that supports a person's sex individuality — is the modular of attraction for trans and gender-diverse youth.

The clinics run nether an interdisciplinary model, with pediatrics, intelligence health, nursing and pharmacy practitioners involved. 

Davis said the inclusion of nursing enactment is simply a unsocial feature. Nurses tin assistance administer treatments that necessitate injections, for example, but besides thatch younker however to bash it safely themselves.

The extremity is to unfastened clinics crossed Nova Scotia based connected the Kentville model, which Nova Scotia Health said was the archetypal of its benignant successful the state extracurricular of the IWK, portion being tailored to section needs. 

According to Davis, who helped commencement the Kentville clinic, it's apt the adjacent session to unfastened volition beryllium successful Sydney. That's due to the fact that of the health-care professionals and resources already successful spot there.

Nova Scotia Health is besides looking astatine Antigonish and southwest Nova Scotia arsenic imaginable locations. 

Staff with the wellness authorization travelled to communities passim the state past twelvemonth to sermon section needs, Davis said.

Hiring is besides successful advancement for a gender-affirming attraction co-ordinator, who volition assistance rotation retired the caller clinics and prosecute with partners.

The laminitis of the Cape Breton Transgender Network said there's a request for these clinics, calling it a "very bully move" to person aggregate services nether 1 roof.

"It's been hard for a batch of folks who person to spell to aggregate antithetic places [to entree gender-affirming care], often having to spell to Halifax," said Veronica Merryfield. "Those services request to beryllium much localised."

She added that galore families can't spend to instrumentality clip disconnected enactment to spell to Halifax and back.

A referral from a primary-care supplier — including done virtual attraction — and a readiness appraisal for hormone therapy are required for patients to entree the clinic's services.

The appraisal tin beryllium conducted either by a backstage intelligence wellness clinician oregon publically done Nova Scotia Health's intelligence wellness and addictions intake process.

Merryfield did explicit interest that the clinics could gully hate. In caller years the proviso of gender-affirming attraction for younker has go progressively politicized. 

"I'm hoping that these facilities are wrong … different [Nova Scotia Health] facility," Merryfield said, to debar drafting unwanted attention.

While antagonistic rhetoric is retired there, for Davis it's the younker who usage the session that helium listens to astir closely. He said the Kentville session has heard thing but affirmative feedback from those younker and their families.