A comprehensive national database reveals alarming statistics on the number of children and young adults undergoing irreversible transgender medical procedures, including sex-change surgery, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments. De-identified data shows nearly $120 million in charges for these treatments at 68 children's hospitals across the country from 2019 to 2023.
In a disturbing trend, thousands of minors have undergone gender reassignment surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments at children's hospitals and medical facilities across the nation. A new database released by Do No Harm, a medical watchdog group, has shed light on this alarming practice.
Children Exploited: Thousands Undergo Gender Surgery and Treatments at Children's Hospitals
The database, titled "Does My Hospital Transition Kids?", identified 5,747 minor patients who received sex-change surgery and 13,994 who received some form of gender reassignment treatment between 2019 and 2023. The de-identified data indicates a total of $120 million in charges for treatments like sex-change surgeries and hormone blockers.
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, Do No Harm's chairman, emphasizes the significance of this data, stating, "This is a very, very important issue, and it's a very important issue to get right." He acknowledges that the data may underestimate the problem's scope and severity.
Children Exploited: Thousands Undergo Gender Surgery and Treatments at Children's Hospitals
Researchers analyzed insurance claims from various sources, excluding Kaiser, self-pay, and charity care. They identified 68 children's hospitals nationwide and highlighted the "Dirty Dozen" institutions with the highest rates of sex change treatments for minors.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) ranks number one, followed by the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Children's Minnesota, Seattle Children's, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Boston Children's Hospital, Rady Children's Hospital, Children's National Medical Center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, Children's Hospital Colorado, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Children Exploited: Thousands Undergo Gender Surgery and Treatments at Children's Hospitals
State-by-state data reveals significant disparities, with California, Massachusetts, and New York exhibiting the highest rates of transgender treatments for minors. California alone saw charges exceeding $28 million from over 2,000 minor patients, while Massachusetts reported expenses around $10 million from 671 minor patients.
Goldfarb stresses the lack of scientific basis for using these treatments in children and the potential for harm. "Adults can do as they wish, but we feel very strongly that the science behind using these treatments in children is extraordinarily flawed and suggests that children are being harmed in that sense."
Children Exploited: Thousands Undergo Gender Surgery and Treatments at Children's Hospitals
Activist Chloe Cole, who underwent a double mastectomy and hormone treatments as a teenager, emphasizes the database's importance. "The stats in this database represent thousands of kids who are being treated like Guinea pigs for unproven, and sometimes dangerous, medical experiments."
Some hospitals, such as CHOP, openly advocate for transgender youth care and have specialized programs for gender nonconforming and transgender youth. CHOP's president and chief operating officer, Madeline Bell, affirmed the hospital's commitment to providing "culturally competent and affirming healthcare" to LGBT patients and their families.
In recent years, conservative politicians and activists have pressured medical providers who conduct transgender surgical procedures on children. Last month, a group of attorneys general demanded that the American Academy of Pediatrics rescind its support for transgender procedures on children.
The database serves as a tool to expose the dangers of pediatric gender medicine and end the practice, according to Do No Harm. Goldfarb concludes, "The more that people understand the nature of what's going on, the more they understand that it's not a good thing, particularly for the children involved."
