Gynecology Care for Teens in Maryland: What You Can Consent To Yourself

If you're under 18 and trying to get birth control, or you're a parent trying to work out what your teenager can and can't do on their own, the rules are clearer than they look. Maryland law is unusually specific about this, and most of the confusion comes from people guessing instead of reading it.

Here's how it actually works, and how we handle it.

The short version

• Most reproductive health care, you can consent to yourself. Birth control, including IUDs. STI testing and treatment. Pregnancy-related care. HIV prevention. No parent signature required.
• Hormone therapy is the exception. We provide HRT starting at age 16, and it does require a parent or guardian's consent.
• Patients under 18 have to start in person at our Kensington office. After care is established, telehealth follow-ups are fine from wherever you are.

What Maryland law lets you consent to on your own

Maryland spells this out in the Health-General Article, section 20-102. It says a minor has the same capacity as an adult to consent to a specific list of care. The parts that matter for a gynecology visit:

• Contraception, other than sterilization. This is the big one, and it's broader than most people assume. It covers the pill, the patch, the ring, the shot, the implant, and IUDs. An IUD is contraception, not sterilization, so it sits squarely inside what you can consent to yourself.
• Treatment for or advice about sexually transmitted infections.
• Treatment for or advice about pregnancy.
• Treatment for the prevention of HIV, which is what PrEP is.

The law also says that if you're married, or you're a parent yourself, or you live apart from your parents and support yourself, you have full adult capacity to consent to medical treatment generally.

You don't need to explain yourself, bring a note, or justify why you would rather not involve a parent. The statute doesn't ask for a reason and neither do we.

Hormone therapy works differently

We provide gender-affirming hormone therapy starting at age 16, and for anyone under 18 it requires a parent or guardian's consent. That's our policy, and it isn't something we can waive case by case.

To be clear about what that means in practice: you still fill out your own forms. Your parent's consent is a second, separate form that goes to them, not a replacement for yours. You're still the patient, you still consent to your own care, and the paperwork reflects that. There are simply two sets of it.

We know that lands hard for some people. If you're under 18, you want to start hormones, and your parents aren't on board, we would rather point you somewhere genuinely useful than leave you with a closed door. Two organizations in our area are far better resourced for this than we are, with case management, legal advocacy, and wraparound services we simply don't have:

• Chase Brexton Health Care (chasebrexton.org)
• Whitman-Walker Health (whitmanwalker.org)

And it's worth saying plainly: everything else on this page still applies to you. Contraception, STI testing, an exam, PrEP. Hormones are the one category that needs a parent. The rest of our care doesn't, and you're welcome here for it.

The first visit is in person. After that, telehealth is fine.

For legal reasons, a patient under 18 has to establish care in Maryland, in our office. That first visit can't happen over video.

The reason is regulatory, not clinical. The rules about telehealth, and the rules about who can consent to what, vary from state to state, and they follow the patient, not the practice. Establishing care in person in Maryland means one clear set of rules applies from the start.

Once you're an established patient, that constraint goes away. Follow-up visits can be telehealth, and it doesn't matter where you're calling or videoing in from. Away at school, travelling, at a friend's house, it isn't a problem.

So it's one trip to Kensington, about ten minutes from the DC line, and then we're flexible.

Confidentiality, honestly

This is where we would rather be straight with you than reassuring.

What the law says. Under the same statute, a clinician may share information about this kind of treatment with a parent or guardian, but isn't required to. Our default is that your visit is yours. We aren't going to call your parents to report that you came in.

Where confidentiality actually leaks. It's usually not the clinic. It's the insurance company. If you're on a parent's plan, the plan may mail an explanation of benefits, and that document can name the visit. This is the single most common way a confidential visit stops being confidential, and it has nothing to do with anything we do or say.

If that matters to you, there are real options, and you should raise them when you book, not after:

• Self-pay. Paying directly means nothing goes through the plan and no statement gets generated. We can tell you the cost up front.
• Confidential communications. Many insurers will, on request, send statements to the patient, not the policyholder. It's worth calling the number on the card and asking.
• Just ask us. Tell whoever you talk to that confidentiality is a priority. We'll tell you honestly what we can and can't control.

We would rather you know the limits in advance than assume a protection that isn't there.

What to expect at the visit

Nothing dramatic. A conversation first, always. If you're coming in for birth control, we'll talk through the options, what each one actually feels like day to day, and what fits your life. If an exam is needed, we explain it before it happens and you can stop at any point.

One thing worth knowing: a birth control visit usually doesn't require a pelvic exam. Cervical cancer screening in the United States doesn't begin until age 21 regardless of when you become sexually active, so a Pap smear is almost certainly not part of a visit for someone under 18.

How to book

Book a new patient visit like anyone else. If a parent or guardian is arranging the visit for someone under 18, our scheduler will route you to a short welcome call with our coordinator with our team first, with both of you on the line, so we can sort out consent and paperwork before you come in, instead of discovering a problem in the waiting room.

If you're booking for yourself and you're under 18, you can go ahead and book.

Book a new patient visit, or get in touch if you would rather ask a question first.

*This page describes our practice policies and our reading of Maryland law as of August 2026. It's general information, not legal advice, and law and policy both change. If you're working through a specific situation, ask us directly.*