The reporter behind a Radio-Canada investigation that found gender clinics were quickly rushing teens into chemically transitioning with puberty blockers is standing by her reporting in the face of an onslaught of criticism.
While speaking on Tout le Monde en Parle, Radio-Canada journalist Pasquale Turbide said that concerns from parents prompted the investigation.
“Parents began writing to us last summer, when there was a bit of a controversy about names, pronouns, all-gender bathrooms, etc,” said Turbide in French.
“But the letters we were getting were not about those issues, they were talking about medical transitions.”
According to Turbide, a few of the parents contacting Radio-Canada had children who claimed they were transgender and were being offered puberty blockers by medical practitioners.
“We started to look into it, and we easily found fifteen to twenty people who were all telling us more or less the same story,” said Turbide. “They were often very open-minded parents, open to homosexuality, open to all sorts of things but were panicking at the speed of the transgender healthcare system.”
The investigation found that without medical referrals or parental consent, 14-year-old girls in the province can swiftly access cross-sex hormones. The documentary, called Trans Express, delves into this contentious issue, featuring interviews with both satisfied trans youth and supportive healthcare providers, as well as detransitioners and critics of gender-affirming approaches.
Turbide also said that current research is being conducted into puberty blockers but there remain many unknowns into the impact they have on development.
“We’re beginning to realize that they may have an impact on brain development,” said Turbide.
“Girls take testosterone, boys take estrogen and that’s semi-irreversible. Some things don’t come back even if they stop. One’s voice will stay changed most of the time. The face of their shape is another thing that’s affected. You can become infertile if you are a girl. It’s not yet clear how far it can go.”
Turbide explained that while transitioning can work for some people, there has been a surge of people seeking medical treatments related to transgenderism.
“There’s been a huge increase in the transgender clientele in the last 15 years and in this increase, we’re seeing more girls than before, a lot more people with mental health problems that won’t necessarily be resolved by transitioning,” said Turbide.
Pointing to the fact that some Scandinavian countries have moved to ban puberty blockers and intervene when it comes to children seeking life-altering treatments, Turbide said there were different models to approach the issue.
