Trans men
When your body and your gender identity don’t match up, that can have such an impact on screening. When you’re in a clinical situation, when you’re naked and vulnerable, your identity — at least partly — is stripped away. Being cared for by people who don’t understand your identity can be devastating. Alf
A trans man is a person who identifies as and lives as masculine or male but was assigned female at birth. Like everyone else, trans men need access to culturally sensitive cancer screening. Some factors, however, can pose barriers to that access, including:
- perceived or actual transphobia or poor treatment in healthcare settings
- the incorrect belief that trans men who have sex exclusively with non-trans women or with other trans men do not need Pap tests
- a lack of healthcare provider knowledge about trans bodies and screening information for trans people. For example, many but not all trans men have had surgical procedures (such as mastectomy or hysterectomy) and/or take gender-affirming hormones like testosterone, to create bodies that align more closely with their gender identities. Healthcare providers need to understand the impact of these procedures on cancer screening needs, while remaining sensitive to trans clients’ privacy.
- gender dysphoria, which can make tests — like Pap tests, colonoscopies or mammograms — that expose and/or examine the genitals or the chest particularly challenging
- often extreme levels of social exclusion, which can contribute to instability and have adverse health outcomes
- This section discusses colon, breast and cervical cancer screening information for trans men, as well as some strategies that you as a healthcare provider can use to make screening more accessible to your trans male clients.
For trans clients: Changing sex designation on identification
Having access to proper and accurate identification is crucial to a person’s access to employment, housing, healthcare and the many other circumstances that require government documentation. It is also a valuable affirmation of a person’s identity.
For these reasons, many trans people in Ontario may wish to change the sex designation (“male/M” or “female/F”) on identification such as health (OHIP) cards, birth certificates and driver’s licenses. To change the designation on all these documents, trans clients require — among other things — a signed letter from a healthcare provider who has treated them and supports the change. This document by Rainbow Health Ontario (PDF) provides details on the format of and the information that must be included in these letters.
As a healthcare provider, you can maximize the health of your trans clients by helping them access proper identification. Be prepared to assist your trans clients if they request documentation to support changes to their government ID and let them know that you are willing to provide them with that support should they need it.