While other major medical organizations are backing away from their support of damaging transgender procedures for minors, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is doubling down on so-called trans care.
The AAP, which represents tens of thousands of professionals in pediatric medicine, said on Wednesday that its support of trans procedures for minors remains unchanged.
“The guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics for health care for young people with gender dysphoria does not include a blanket recommendation for surgery for minors,” AAP President Dr. Andrew Racine <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/health/gender-surgery-minors-ama.html?smid=fb-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawPxyzhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFRVTY3d0VFT2NKUWtlTTZQc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHtMS8_-ScSNtkKq81VkqaTVzCxWdMcAfeXhdvtL-v8OLdebPSy9ucGQ-kj5P_aem_BU6FM8f2LLHxBWFlwAWZ7g">said</a> in a statement.
“The A.A.P. continues to hold to the principle that patients, their families and their physicians — not politicians — should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them,&#8221; he added.
AAP publications still claim that puberty blockers are &#8220;<a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20182162/37381/Ensuring-Comprehensive-Care-and-Support-for?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reversible</a>&#8221; and cross-sex hormones are &#8220;partially reversible.&#8221; Gender surgeries for minors, including <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20182162/37381/Ensuring-Comprehensive-Care-and-Support-for?utm_source=chatgpt.com">so-called &#8220;top&#8221; and &#8220;bottom&#8221; surgeries</a> and facial surgeries, are still recommended for minors on a &#8220;case by case basis.&#8221;
&#8220;Top&#8221; surgeries involve the removal of the healthy breasts of young girls, and &#8220;bottom&#8221; surgeries are performed on the genitals or reproductive organs of both sexes.
Back in June, the AAP similarly reaffirmed its commitment to trans surgeries, balking at a U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively allows for states to ban trans procedures on minors.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Supreme Court’s decision today does not change the science. Gender-affirming care remains evidence-based, medically necessary care that improves the health and well-being of transgender youth. Learn more: <a href="https://t.co/YxmqZFGTnN">https://t.co/YxmqZFGTnN</a> <a href="https://t.co/fcSYK46hEj">pic.twitter.com/fcSYK46hEj</a>
— American Academy of Pediatrics (@AmerAcadPeds) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmerAcadPeds/status/1935370245847330852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
Elected Democrats, too, are generally on board with trans procedures for minors.
In October, far-Left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, expressed support for so-called trans youth in reaction to a question about GOP-backed bills banning trans surgeries for minors.
“I want to say that I know this time is completely terrifying for so many people, and it feels hard to know where your place is, and especially in politics, where it feels like people in both parties are blaming you for everything that’s happening, I just want you to know that they couldn’t be more wrong,” AOC <a href="https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/10/aoc-assures-trans-kids-theyre-not-to-blame-for-anything-you-are-fine-just-the-way-you-are/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">said</a>.
Failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE), Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) are other notable figures in the party who support such measures.
Conversely, both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) — which wields major influence as the nation’s largest medical association — have backed away from their support of such trans procedures on minors.
As highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-fight-is-not-over-major-medical-org-rejects-transgender-surgeries-for-kids">The Daily Wire</a>, ASPS released a statement on Tuesday that said available evidence does not support genital procedures or removing the breasts of young girls who identify as boys. The ASPS also said there was “insufficient” support for placing kids on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
The AMA then followed. In a <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/first-major-medical-org-comes-out-against-trans-surgeries-for-minors/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">statement</a> to National Review, the AMA said “the evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement,” adding that it “agrees” with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) “that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood.”
The AMA added that it supports “evidence-based treatment,” including other types of so-called gender-affirming care for minors.
The timing of the shifts is incredibly notable. Just last week, a young woman was awarded a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shocking-details-emerge-in-landmark-2-million-trans-malpractice-judgment?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Shocking+Details+Emerge+In+Landmark+%242+Million+%E2%80%98Trans%E2%80%99+Malpractice+Judgment">$2 million judgment</a> in her lawsuit against the medical professionals who advanced and performed the removal of her healthy breasts at just 16 years old as part of transgender “treatment” for the teen, who at the time was suffering from a series of mental health issues.
There are still more than two dozen detransitioner cases pending, and many medical professionals and legal experts expect favorable verdicts for those who were mutilated in the name of &#8220;transgender care.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-major-medical-group-reverses-course-on-trans-surgeries-for-minors?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Another+Major+Medical+Group+Reverses+Course+On+Trans+Surgeries+For+Minors">Another Major Medical Group Reverses Course On Trans Surgeries For Minors</a>

Trans kids sign

American Academy Of Pediatrics Sticks To Democrat Script On Trans Surgeries For Minors

American Academy of Pediatrics

Children

Health

Social Issues

Transgender

U.S.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons sent shockwaves through the medical community yesterday when it became the first major medical association to strongly disavow child sex-rejection surgeries.
The ASPS, the world’s largest organization of plastic surgeons, left no uncertainty about its position, recommending that “surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old,” in a <a href="https://www.plasticsurgery.org/documents/health-policy/positions/2026-gender-surgery-children-adolescents.pdf">policy statement</a> on gender surgery for minors, which could have a worldwide impact on the transgender surgical industry.
&#8220;Medical societies shape far more than professional opinion — they set the guardrails for how medicine is practiced, taught, and reimbursed,” Dr. Kurt Miceli, chief medical officer at Do No Harm, told The Daily Wire.
“That’s why the ASPS statement on pediatric medical transition lands with such weight,” Miceli added. “When a leading surgical society acknowledges that the risks of endocrine and surgical interventions outweigh their benefits, it makes clear that the so-called ‘standard of care’ pushed by gender activists is far from established. In fact, the evidence points to the harms of so-called ‘gender-affirming care.’” 
After reviewing the science supporting pediatric gender medicine, ASPS concluded there was “insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents,” according to the statement.
The ASPS statement was published just days after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/detransitioner-awarded-millions-in-first-malpractice-verdict-this-is-how-it-all-ends">landmark</a> $2 million settlement was awarded to detransitioner Fox Varian, who sued her psychologist and surgeon after receiving a double mastectomy at age 16.    
Several comprehensive evidence reviews, including the Department of Health and Human Services <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/gender-dysphoria-report">report</a> on the treatment of gender dysphoria, were cited as providing a basis for the ASPS statement, showing a departure from the consensus model adopted by many medical organizations. 
“In the United States, pediatric medical transition has relied heavily on support from medical associations rather than, and against the findings of, systematic reviews of evidence,” Leor Sapir, PhD, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told The Daily Wire. “That consensus was also very thin. It reflected the viewpoints of only a small number of groups that were, in essence, beholden to activists within their ranks.”
The peer-reviewed HHS report on the treatment of gender dysphoria found that pediatric gender medicine puts children at risk of “significant harms” and is supported by deeply flawed science.
“This is the first major medical group to cite the HHS report in a favorable way. The ASPS&#8217;s citation of the HHS report (alongside the Cass Review) is very significant because it suggests that leaders of a doctor organization have read it, engaged with its findings in a serious way, and found it persuasive,” Sapir, who co-authored the HHS report, told The Daily Wire. 
The American Academy of Pediatrics has sharply criticized the HHS report on gender medicine, saying it &#8220;prioritizes opinions over dispassionate reviews of evidence,” in a May 2025 <a href="https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/32145/AAP-speaks-out-against-HHS-report-on-gender?autologincheck=redirected">press release</a>.  
As staunch supporters of pediatric gender surgeries, the AAP <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/11/20/exclusive-how-small-band-pediatricians-aap-pushed-wpath-age-minimums-sex-changes/">used its influence</a> to persuade the World Professional Association of Transgender Health to abandon the inclusion of lower age limits for sex-rejection surgeries in its transgender medical guidance, the Standards of Care Version 8 (SOC-8), according to an <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-477/328275/20241015131826340_2024.10.15%20-%20Ala.%20Amicus%20Br.%20iso%20TN%20FINAL.pdf">October 2024 brief</a> submitted to the Supreme Court by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. 
“Days before SOC-8 was to be published, pressure from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) tipped the scales when it threatened to oppose SOC-8 if WPATH did not remove the age minimums,” Marshall wrote in the brief.
“Thanks to the Biden Administration and AAP, SOC-8 does not contain age minimums for any transitioning hormonal or surgical intervention except for one: phalloplasty, the surgical creation of a neopenis,” Marshall wrote.  
The Daily Wire asked the AAP if it supported or opposed the ASPS position statement on pediatric gender surgery, but did not receive a response.   
“It is now time for the Endocrine Society, American Academy of Pediatrics, and others in organized medicine to re-evaluate their clinical practice guidelines and position statements; ASPS has given the house of medicine an opening to end these harmful, unscientific, and dangerous practices on our youth,&#8221; Miceli said.

Transgender flag, shadows and silhouettes of people on a road, conceptual picture about anonymous Transgender and Gay Lesbian in the World

Why The Shift From Major Medical Groups On Trans Surgeries Really Matters 

Gender Transition

A newly published <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/doi/10.1542/peds.2025-072941/205716/Smartphone-Ownership-Age-of-Smartphone-Acquisition?autologincheck=redirected">study</a> by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children who were given smartphones before the age of 12 were at a greater risk of developing future issues, including depression, obesity, poor sleep, and more.
Researchers noted that the earlier the study participants were given the devices, the more likely they were to develop the adverse effects.
Lead study author Dr. Ran Barzilay <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/kids-smartphones-age-12-higher-risk-depression-obesity/story?id=127998537&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn&amp;utm_social_post_id=612027417&amp;utm_social_handle_id=28785486">told</a> ABC News that his motivations for conducting the study were both personal and professional. “I have a nine-year-old who wants a phone, and I think [whether to get them a smartphone] is a question that is relevant for every parent of a kid going into adolescence, even before adolescence,” he told the outlet.
“We didn’t even look at what the kids did on the phone,” the child psychiatrist said, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/children-smartphones-increased-risk-of-health-problems-study/">per</a> CBS News. “We basically asked one simple question: does the mere factor of having one’s own smartphone at this age range have anything to do with health outcomes?”
The study included data collected from 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) between 2018 and 2020. It was noted that 63.6% of the ABCD study participants owned a smartphone, and the median age at which they received the phone was 11 years old.
Researchers focused on children aged 9 to 16, seeking to identify health outcomes associated with when they were given a smartphone. The team found that 12-year-olds who had a cell phone had a 1.3 times higher risk of depression, a 1.4 times higher risk of obesity, and a 1.6 times higher risk of insufficient sleep as compared to their peers who did not have phones. 
The risk of developing these problems increased by 10% for each year earlier the children were given phones, with some kids being given smartphones as young as 4.
Dr. Barzilay said it was “quite surprising” to find that children who had no smartphone at 12 and then got one at 13 also had worse mental health and poorer-quality sleep that year, even after the study controlled for those factors.
The study’s conclusion stated, “Smartphone ownership was associated with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence. Findings provide critical and timely insights that should inform caregivers regarding adolescent smartphone use and, ideally, the development of public policy that protects youth.”
The researcher also concluded that his 9-year-old, who wants a phone, is “not getting a phone anytime soon. Clear decision.”

child cell phone

Children Given Smartphones By Age 12 Have Greater Risk Of Depression And Obesity, Study Finds

cell phones

Parenting

Smartphones

study

Technology

A conference hosted by the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States kicked out a group of detransitioners who sought to share their perspectives with doctors, The Daily Wire has learned.
Detransitioners are individuals who attempted the impossible — to change their gender through hormonal or surgical transgender interventions — before stopping treatments and living as their biological sex. They are largely ignored in the mainstream media and dismissed by medical organizations. But many detransitioned individuals have taken their stories to social media and grown large followings as they spread awareness about the dangers of so-called &#8220;gender-affirming care.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: The <a href="https://twitter.com/AmerAcadPeds?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AmerAcadPeds</a> has kicked out a detrans group that included Chloe Cole, Abel Garcia, Soren Aldaco, and Nicolas Flowers from their annual conference. Why is the AAP preventing doctors from hearing these stories? <a href="https://t.co/GI0smBFF2C">pic.twitter.com/GI0smBFF2C</a>
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1840859283040453079?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
The American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/25340/AAP-reaffirms-gender-affirming-care-policy?autologincheck=redirected">voted in 2023</a> to reaffirm its 2018 policy statement promoting so-called &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; and authorizing the development of guidance for pediatricians based on a &#8220;systematic review of the evidence.&#8221; AAP CEO Mark Del Monte promised at the time that AAP will continue to “ensure young people get the reproductive and gender-affirming care they need and are seen, heard and valued as they are.&#8221;
Members of the Alliance for Mental Health, a coalition of groups advocating for mental health over medical treatments for gender confusion, attended the American Academy of Pediatrics conference this weekend in Orlando, Florida. Detransitioners Chloe Cole, Abel Garcia, Soren Aldaco, and Nicholas Flowers were present, along with activists Erin Friday and January Littlejohn.
The group spent over $25,000 on a booth where they could easily access attendees, Friday shared with The Daily Wire. Their goal was to communicate with the doctors who were traveling from around the world to attend the conference. And they were successful, Garcia told The Daily Wire, until they were booted from the conference on Monday morning, their third day at the conference.
Video footage shared with The Daily Wire&#8217;s Matt Walsh shows a security guard claiming that one of the individuals had violated &#8220;the code of contact last year.&#8221; The guard tells them they need to &#8220;leave the event immediately&#8221; and return their name badges, giving them about five minutes to disassemble their booth.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
3/ Rather than speak for themselves, the AAP sent venue security to inform these mental health professionals, mothers, and detransitioners that they had 10 minutes to pack up their booth and exit the conference venue. <a href="https://t.co/ZatB9hLfpu">pic.twitter.com/ZatB9hLfpu</a>
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1840859291374522754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;They don&#8217;t want detransitioners here at the AAP,&#8221; Littlejohn can be seen telling the guard. &#8220;They want to pretend that they don&#8217;t exist. What&#8217;s really sad is, our information was really well received by the pediatricians here. We are very concerned about the mental health of people with gender dysphoria, and it&#8217;s really time that the AAP acknowledge the harm that&#8217;s occurring.&#8221;
The AAP did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire explaining which individual was problematic enough to get them removed from the conference. Littlejohn believes they were removed because of their message: that the AAP should not be endorsing so-called &#8220;gender-affirming care,&#8221; transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers, for minors.
Garcia acted as the Spanish coordinator for the Alliance for Mental Health, he said on Monday, sharing that his job was to speak with Spanish attendees from countries including Mexico, Peru, and Guatemala. The doctors with whom their group spoke were &#8220;shocked&#8221; to discover what the AAP has condoned, Garcia said. These doctors reportedly shared that in their countries, adults were seeking gender transitions, but such procedures were not being pushed on children.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
6/ “We matter, our voices matter, and our health matters. We went through such a traumatic medical experiment, and yet we’re still constantly put into this turmoil…” said Nicolas Flowers, another detransitioner escorted from the event. <a href="https://twitter.com/nicolasblooms?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nicolasblooms</a> <a href="https://t.co/PnIXo3far0">pic.twitter.com/PnIXo3far0</a>
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1840859297250754646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;I believe our efforts were successful,&#8221; Garcia shared in a phone interview on Monday. &#8220;Our goal was to not get kicked out on the first day&#8230;being kicked out on the third day was the best option because that way we had the max amount of time to communicate with the attendees about protecting children and why the AAP supports mutilating children and &#8216;gender-affirming care.'&#8221;

Photo Sep 29 2024, 10 10 15 AMJanuary, Abel, Pam, Nicolas, Soren, Erin, Chloe (whole group)

Detransitioners Booted From American Academy of Pediatrics Conference

LGBTQ

Matt Walsh

A group of nearly two dozen state attorneys general is warning the American Academy of Pediatrics that it may be breaking the law by continuing to recommend puberty blockers to children who are unhappy with their biological gender despite evidence the drugs cause harm.
On Tuesday, the 21 attorneys general, led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, sent a <a href="https://attorneygeneralofidaho-my.sharepoint.com/personal/isaac_considine_ag_idaho_gov/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fisaac%5Fconsidine%5Fag%5Fidaho%5Fgov%2FDocuments%2F00%20%2D%20PR%2F2024%2D09%2D24%20AAP%20Letter%2F2024%2D09%2D24%20AAP%27s%20Compliance%20with%20State%20Consumer%20Protection%20Laws%2Epdf&amp;parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fisaac%5Fconsidine%5Fag%5Fidaho%5Fgov%2FDocuments%2F00%20%2D%20PR%2F2024%2D09%2D24%20AAP%20Letter&amp;ga=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> warning the Academy that it may be violating a slew of state consumer protection laws.
The group put the Academy &#8220;on notice for possible violations of state consumer protection statutes over its evidence free standards on gender dysphoria care for minors,&#8221; the attorneys general <a href="https://www.ag.idaho.gov/newsroom/attorney-general-labrador-challenges-american-academy-of-pediatrics-to-disclose-gender-dysphoria-guidance-and-methodology/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.
&#8220;Most concerning, AAP claims that the use of puberty blockers on children is safe and reversible,&#8221; the group wrote, calling that claim &#8220;misleading and deceptive.&#8221;
The Academy&#8217;s guidance is based &#8220;more on political pressure and agendas rather than medical efficacy and sound medical judgement,&#8221; the group wrote.
The attorneys general are demanding the Academy submit specific documentation for its ongoing recommendations of the powerful drugs for gender dysphoric children.
&#8220;Telling parents and children that puberty blockers are &#8216;reversible&#8217; at the very least conveys assurance that no permanent harm or change will occur,&#8221; the attorneys general wrote in their letter. &#8220;But that claim cannot be made in the face of the unstudied and &#8216;novel&#8217; use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria.&#8221;
&#8220;We expect you will address this matter with the same seriousness that we are, and we look forward to receiving your response soon,&#8221; the group wrote.
The Academy represents 67,000 pediatricians across the country.
Puberty blockers can <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/in-depth/pubertal-blockers/art-20459075">affect</a> bone growth and density and cause sexual dysfunction, voice damage, and infertility, among other issues. Cross-sex hormones, often given to children after they take puberty blockers, which can be estrogen or testosterone can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-young-people-in-u-s-have-nearly-doubled-recently-report-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cause</a> infertility, deadly blood clots, heart attacks, increased cancer risks of the breasts and ovaries, liver dysfunction, worsening psychological illness, and other serious conditions.
In Europe, several countries including England, Finland, and Sweden have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/puberty-blockers-ban-upheld-by-british-court">pumped</a> the brakes on transgender medical interventions for children, including both puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
The attorneys general cites the Cass review, the landmark <a href="https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> commissioned by England’s National Health Service, which recommended halting the prescription of puberty blockers due to their effects on brain development and bone health.
In April, the Tavistock clinic, England’s only youth gender identity clinic, officially closed its doors after being dogged by controversy for years.
The clinic, the biggest in the world, <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2024/03/inside-the-collapse-of-the-tavistock-centre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> thousands of children for puberty blockers. In its last years, Tavistock began to see an increasing flood of young girls with gender-related distress asking for drugs despite having other mental issues like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and histories of abuse.
In May, a British high court upheld Britain’s ban on puberty blockers.
At least 25 U.S. states have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nebraska-supreme-court-upholds-bans-on-abortion-transgender-surgeries-for-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> restrictions on transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for minors.
The Cass review also warned that children who are referred to gender services come with high rates of abuse and neglect, including sexual abuse and parental substance abuse.

Hormonal pills after gender reassignment

‘Evidence Free’: Puberty Blocker Recommendation May Break Law, 21 AGs Warn Pediatrician Group

'Evidence Free': Puberty Blocker Recommendation May Break Law, 21 AGs Warn Pediatrician Group

Attorney General

Gender

Health Care

When I enlisted in the Army in 2001, I recall the part of in-processing that had me lying naked on an exam table with only a big, white sheet covering my body, tented by my knees. I was told that the physician was going to walk in, lift the sheet to observe my genitalia, and walk out. That’s exactly what he did. The U.S. Army found that my anatomy was commensurate with what is defined as “female.” In other words, sex was defined by anatomy.
Fast forward about 20 years, and I attended the September 2022 Contraceptive Technology Virtual Conference in an attempt to stay informed in my role as the clinical consultant for the Title X Family Planning Program in Kansas.
As an experienced registered nurse and public health professional trained in the fundamental truths of anatomy and biology, I was surprised when conference speakers gave preemptive apologies for using the word “woman.” When they used the word “woman,” they explained it was only to mirror the older, less politically correct research they referenced. They even made it a point to say they were aware of the offense it may cause because it did not include members of the “trans” community.
Each time I heard this, I wondered: Why are medical professionals apologizing for using the lexicon firmly established in every sphere of life—social, cultural, academic, philosophical, scientific? I realized there was a social construct to “woman,” but that didn’t contradict basic anatomy and genetics, which are visually observable.
One presenter suggested we stop using the term “women’s clinic” and begin asking patients if they are comfortable with using anatomical terms like “vagina” or if they prefer made-up terms like “front-hole.”
This is the salient point of gender ideology — the truth is irrelevant. I would go one step further and say the truth is being undermined at the behest of proclaimed authorities of inclusion and diversity.
I know I am not alone, professionally. Where are all my fellow nurses, providers, and researchers who stand on eternal truth?
More recently, I have seen guides put forth by local breastfeeding coalitions on the implementation of vocabulary that is more “inclusive,” such as “chestfeeding” in lieu of breastfeeding. All of this is to assuage a small but ever-growing percentage of people who reject biological reality and want to be something other than their actual sex.
In 2017, I was 41 years old and at a pinnacle point in my career. I was Assistant Director of Clinical Operations in a local health department and the President of the Association of Public Health Nurses (APHN). I served both of these roles while finishing my RWJF Health Policy Fellowship and working on my master’s in public health.
In the eyes of today’s high-performing culture, I was successful, but my husband’s health propelled me to a role that could accommodate the needs of my family. His health issues were unexpected, so I needed to be working closer to home.
So, that same year, I transitioned into my current role as a <a href="https://www.nationalfamilyplanning.org/title-x_title-x-key-facts#:~:text=Everyone%20who%20accesses%20family%20planning,status%2C%20or%20any%20other%20characteristic." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Title X</a> Family Planning Clinical Consultant. But I am now at a point in my life where I can no longer reconcile my values and professional role in this program.
Title X, a federal grant program to provide sexual health and family planning services, is available for all adolescents without regard to age. With this program, minors are legally allowed to access contraception, for example, without a parent or guardian. That’s right, Title X providers must keep patient information confidential from parents.
Providing education and counseling on contraceptive methods and how to prevent exposure to sexually transmitted infections is one thing. This is factual information, and it’s very straightforward. However, the services go well beyond that. Affirming an adolescent’s identity that is inconsistent with their anatomy is a dangerous treachery of the highest order because confusion and lies are being affirmed.
It doesn’t just stop with “social transitioning” for minors. Surgical and other forms of medical transitioning lead to permanent health complications and a life-long patient status. All of this sells lies to our youth. No amount of surgery or hormones will ever make a male a female or vice versa.
When big organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists release guidance on providing “gender-affirming care,” they’re giving pseudoscience a stamp of legitimacy. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it — and struggling. My job was to measure practice against nationally recognized “gold standards,” and those are changing before my eyes.
As caretakers for those struggling with dementia know, you never affirm the “worms they see crawling on the wall,” but you respond with compassion and reorient them to reality and the truth. Affirming lies only furthers their confusion and does more harm than good.
Treating people with dignity and respect because they are human beings is no longer sufficient in so-called health care. Validating and legitimizing gender identities that contradict basic anatomy and genetics are now ubiquitously suggested and, at times, outright demanded. How do they demand it? The medical establishment demands the world cede the established terms of male and female.
What happens in the medical establishment trickles down into mass culture, too. After I shared my thoughts on changing culture with a writing group, the leader suggested I look into the story of Riley Gaines. After all, the issue is the same, but it manifests differently in college sports versus health care.
Upon Googling Riley Gaines, I found Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and knew I needed to tell them about my experience. IWF isn’t just documenting the stories of female athletes like Gaines, they are providing a platform for individuals to make their voices heard on a wide range of women’s issues.
Then I discovered IWF’s <a href="https://www.iwf.org/identity-crisis-stories/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Identity Crisis</a> documentary series where detransitioners Prisha Mosley, Isabelle Ayala, and Soren Aldaco completely exposed the dangerous sequelae of gender ideology. I was angry. I remember asking myself: Where are all the sane, ethical health professionals? Why aren’t these young ladies’ parents being told the truth?
Where does this insanity end? At best, it feels like an arrogant attempt to erase the experience of half the population. At worst, it serves girls and women up as an all-you-can-eat prey buffet for men who will claim to be women — not because they truly suffer from gender dysphoria, but because they are predators seeking access to female-only spaces.
Emboldened voices scream about the injustice of appropriation when it comes to racial and ethnic groups, but where is the outcry in defense of the appropriation of women, as if dresses and makeup are the sum of the female experience? To undermine women — those who gave birth to every group, every nation, indeed the world — through imitation is a great injustice.
Yes, men plant their seed, but women are the ones who labor to grow that new human life in their womb and give birth to a human baby. It is a beautiful and elegantly simple design that honors both men and women. The medical industry I’ve been a part of for several decades used to recognize this.
I will not play the pronoun game or any gender-neutralizing tactic to mock a perfect design. I will not apologize for using the word woman. I am a woman.
* * *
Ivonne Rivera-Newberry is a Title X Clinical Consultant for the Kansas Department of Health &amp; Environment and an experienced Registered Nurse with four decades of service to the healthcare industry.
The view expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Group of unknown doctors  use a computer tablet to check up some medical names records, while standing in a sunny hospital office. Physicians ready to examine and help patients. Medical help, insuranc

I’m A Registered Nurse And I’m Sounding The Alarm On Gender Ideology Deception In Medicine

gender ideology

Hospitals

Medical

Opinion

Readers Pass

transgender surgery

Women

Seven states and a pediatrician group are suing the Biden administration for encouraging doctors to &#8220;affirm&#8221; children&#8217;s new gender identities and push them toward medical interventions.
The seven states, Missouri, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Idaho, and Arkansas along with the American College Of Pediatricians filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The suit takes issue with a controversial rule the agency adopted in April that would force doctors and other health care workers to follow the &#8220;affirming&#8221; model and provide transgender medical interventions. The rule redefined “sex discrimination” in health care to include “gender identity” and “sexual orientation,” prompting backlash from critics.
The plaintiffs argue the rule established the &#8220;affirming&#8221; model an &#8220;unproven&#8221; new standard of care and violates the Affordable Care Act by requiring doctors to act against their sound medical judgment.
&#8220;Indeed, the rule requires doctors to provide and promote &#8216;social transitions,&#8217; use of pronouns inconsistent with biological sex, experimental use of puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones for &#8216;gender-transition&#8217; purposes, and perform harmful, sterilizing procedures on adults and children to appear to be the opposite sex, even if state law restricts these procedures. Doctors are even required to inaccurately code their patient’s charts based on gender identity rather than biological sex,&#8221; the American College Of Pediatricians said in a press release.
The lawsuit asks a Missouri federal court to permanently block the HHS rule.
Since April, three other federal courts in Tennessee, Florida, and Texas have stopped the rule from going into effect, court documents from the suit <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/3076588/seven-states-sue-biden-hhs-transgender-medicine-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>.
Dr. Jill Simons, executive director of the American College Of Pediatricians emphasized that doctors should &#8220;never be forced&#8221; to violate their sound medical judgment and perform &#8220;life-altering and sterilizing interventions.&#8221;
&#8220;Our doctors take an oath to do no harm, but the Biden administration’s rule forces them to violate this oath and perform procedures that are harmful and dangerous to our patients — vulnerable children. What the Biden Administration is calling for is wrong and unlawful,&#8221; Simons said in a statement.
In recent years, a wave of seemingly gender dysphoric children in both the U.S. and Europe have been approved for drugs and surgeries to make them appear as the opposite sex.
However, several European countries and U.S. states have pumped the brakes on these treatments.
At least 25 states have passed legislation banning or restricting transgender medical interventions for minors. In Florida, Ohio, and Montana, restrictions are held up in court.

Nurse holding hands with girl in hospital

Seven States Sue Biden HHS Over Transgender Medical Standard For Children

Doctors

More than 100 health care professionals and groups have signed onto a declaration calling on major medical organizations to halt dangerous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender</a> medical interventions for children.
The “Doctors Protecting Children Declaration” was <a href="https://doctorsprotectingchildren.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> by doctors, nurses, psychotherapists, scientists, researchers, and others, who announced the declaration at a Thursday press conference in Washington, D.C., The Daily Signal first <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/06/06/exclusive-doctors-urge-top-medical-orgs-stop-harming-kids-transgender-surgeries-hormones/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“We are here defying the claims made by these medical organizations in the U.S. that those of us who are concerned are a minority, and that their protocols are consensus,” Dr. Jill Simmons, a pediatrician and the executive director for the American College of Pediatricians, <a href="https://catholicvote.org/doctors-protecting-children-coalition-declaration-against-trans-surgeries-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the press conference. “They are not consensus, and we are speaking in a loud and unified voice: enough.”
The group said in their declaration that they have &#8220;serious concerns about the physical and mental health effects of the current protocols promoted for the care of children and adolescents in the United States who express discomfort with their biological sex.&#8221;
The declaration sounded the alarm on subjecting gender dysphoric children to medical interventions like transgender surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers, saying these treatments involve &#8220;serious long-term risks&#8221; including &#8220;sterility.&#8221;
&#8220;Evidence-based medical research now demonstrates there is little to no benefit from any or all suggested &#8216;gender affirming&#8217; interventions for adolescents experiencing Gender Dysphoria. Social &#8216;affirmation,&#8217; puberty blockers, masculinizing or feminizing hormones, and surgeries, individually or in combination, do not appear to improve long-term mental health of the adolescents, including suicide risk,&#8221; the group said.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1716990157394000&amp;usg=AOvVaw33qQydjIo8bet419amChif">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
One issue is the lack of long-term followup studies on children who have undergone these treatments, the group noted. Another issue is the &#8220;immature, often impulsive, nature of the adolescent brain.&#8221;
&#8220;Most children and adolescents whose thoughts and feelings do not align with their biological sex will resolve those mental incongruencies after experiencing the normal developmental process of puberty,&#8221; the health care providers wrote.
Also, socially transitioning children, which can involve a child picking a new name and pronouns and changing their appearance, can lead to medical interventions later, warned the group, which includes several psychiatrists and counselors.
The group also took issue with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), saying its guidelines are &#8220;demonstrably flawed,&#8221; yet many gender clinics follow them.
Instead, psychotherapy for underlying mental health issues like autism, depression, anxiety, and trauma should be the &#8220;first line of treatment&#8221; for children experiencing discomfort with their biological sex, the group said.
The group noted that other countries including England, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland have all pumped the brakes on transgender medical interventions for children.
&#8220;Despite all the above evidence that gender affirming treatments are not only unhelpful, but are harmful, and despite the knowledge that the adolescent brain is immature, professional medical organizations in the United States continue to promote these interventions,&#8221; the group said. &#8220;Further, they state that legislation to protect children from harmful interventions is dangerous since it interferes with necessary medical care for children and adolescents.&#8221;
The declaration called on the main U.S. medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association to &#8220;immediately stop&#8221; promoting social affirmation, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for children and adolescents who experience distress over their biological sex.
&#8220;Instead, these organizations should recommend comprehensive evaluations and therapies aimed at identifying and addressing underlying psychological co-morbidities and neurodiversity that often predispose to and accompany gender dysphoria,&#8221; the group stated.
Several health care organizations signed onto the declaration as well, including the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Catholic Medical Association, Genspect, and the National Association of Catholic Nurses.

Rear view of doctors standing arms crossed

Over 100 Health Care Professionals, Groups Sign Declaration Calling For Halt To Child Transgender Medical Services

Eight Rhode Island medical providers <a href="https://twitter.com/Nicoletta0602/status/1765861434208985487?t=r6zGyN1zzXz-qohTEQpyvw&amp;s=19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> to testify on March 7th in support of a bill shielding gender doctors from lawsuits filed by out-of-state plaintiffs. Two doctors were obstetricians — ironic considering they support sterilizing children, which actively destroys their future patient pool. The bill was held for further study.
Senate Bill 2262, titled <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/02/proposed-law-would-make-rhode-island-sanctuary-state-for-abortion-and-gender-affirming-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Healthcare Provider Shield Act</a>, is more of a healthcare provider sword to brandish against vulnerable patients harmed by “gender-affirming care” because not only does it insulate gender doctors from out-of-state lawsuits, it creates a cause of action for doctors to sue their vulnerable patients back. As a result, patients are not only deterred from having their day in court, but can be punished for it too.
I <a href="https://twitter.com/Nicoletta0602/status/1766084976976490998?t=pVhIdO9xAAu_OZ6tEdpKgA&amp;s=19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> as a proxy for Dr. Michelle Cretella, the former Executive Director of the <a href="https://acpeds.org/press/pediatricians-respond-to-wpath-files-exposing-the-underbelly-of-the-gender-industry?inf_contact_key=8e168fa286a0f232347f4a1fb7d60c4dcc0558ed5d4c28cbfab114022b1ec50d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American College of Pediatricians</a> and current Chair of its Sexuality Committee. Dr. Cretella is also a pediatrician consultant to detransition litigation attorneys. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is Dr. Cretella&#39;s testimony I delivered as a proxy which caused Lifespan pediatrician Dr. Emily Allen to identify Dr. Cretella as part of a &quot;hate group&quot; and make unsubstantiated &quot;disinformation&quot; allegations. 3/3 <a href="https://t.co/8SmyyMelnK">pic.twitter.com/8SmyyMelnK</a>
&mdash; Nicole Solas, Sued by the Teachers Union (@Nicoletta0602) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nicoletta0602/status/1766084976976490998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Legislators may not always read written testimony emailed before hearings with a hasty 48-hour notice. Given the concerning number of ideological Rhode Island medical providers lobbying for legislation to suppress medical malpractice lawsuits likely to expose and repudiate the medical fraud of “gender-affirming care,” it was critical that legislators heard Dr. Cretella’s testimony in person.
Dr. Cretella opposed the bill and cited two Rhode Island detransition lawsuits filed last October along with the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2024/03/12/leaks-us-gender-group-wpath/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WPATH files</a>. She stated:
<blockquote>And we can expect a surge of similar well-warranted malpractice lawsuits. Thanks to a whistle-blower in the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, the world learned this week that Dr. Joyce Asseler and her fellow WPATH health professionals knew that by an average age of 32 years, 27% of children transitioned young with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and surgeries express regret over “sacrificing their fertility.</blockquote>
In chilling closing remarks, Dr. Cretella warned legislators:
<blockquote>The physician inventor of lobotomy received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1949 and the practice was not repudiated until 1967. The State of Rhode Island has no interest in protecting ‘gender experts’ who are the equivalent of yesterday’s expert lobotomists. Rhode Island has every interest in giving every harmed patient their day in court.</blockquote>
Dr. Emily B. Allen, a Lifespan pediatrician <a href="https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv/show/318?site=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testifying</a> on behalf of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, attacked Dr. Cretella’s organization stating it is “classified as a fringe LGBTQ hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). She added that Dr. Cretella’s testimony was: 
<blockquote>&#8230;riddled with disinformation, offensive and inflammatory language, omissions, and misrepresentations of research, and were not rooted in real science or evidence-based medicine. &#8230; It is scary to see other states impose civil and criminal penalties on pediatricians and other providers for practicing medicine in line with the best evidence and professional standards.</blockquote>
This is bold testimony in light of the recent National Health Service’s (NHS) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nhs-england-permanently-bans-puberty-blockers-from-being-prescribed-to-minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban</a> on prescribing puberty blockers to children outside of clinical research, which was most certainly “rooted in real science [and] evidence-based medicine” after a review of published evidence by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) showed there was “not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of PSH [i.e. “puberty blockers”] to make the treatment routinely available at this time.”
Dr. Allen is also an assistant <a href="https://vivo.brown.edu/display/eba1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">professor</a> at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University with no peer-reviewed publications and only non-peer-reviewed publications including &#8220;<a href="https://teenspeak.org/2017/06/15/10-ways-to-be-kind-to-your-vagina/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10 Ways To Be Kind To Your Vagina</a>.&#8221; Her medical groups, Lifespan and the American Academy of Pediatrics, are two of several defendants in one Rhode Island <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgg2hEaqGzE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> filed by detransitioner <a href="https://www.iwf.org/identity-crisis-stories/isabelle-ayala/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Isabelle Ayala</a>—a lawsuit that may not have been filed if Rhode Island had already passed the Healthcare Provider Shield Act.
After the hearing, I asked Dr. Allen whether she read the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56a45d683b0be33df885def6/t/65ea1c1ea42ff5250c88a2f5/1709841455308/WPATH+Report+and+Files%28N%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WPATH files</a> and what she knew about the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dr. Allen <a href="https://x.com/Nicoletta0602/status/1766084973298073905?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> that the Southern Poverty Law Center was “the standard” even though she knew only “some about them.” Pediatricians citing political propaganda to discredit other physicians’ scientific arguments against “gender-affirming care” for kids should lose all credibility as physicians.
She refuted Dr. Cretella’s citation of the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56a45d683b0be33df885def6/t/65ea1c1ea42ff5250c88a2f5/1709841455308/WPATH+Report+and+Files%28N%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">27% regret rate</a> of adults rendered infertile by childhood gender dysphoria treatments alleging it was based on “outdated definitions of gender dysphoria.” Dr. Cretella later responded to Dr. Allen’s refutation stating:
<blockquote>[Dr. Allen] just proved she didn’t read the report. The 27% regret rate cited by Dr. Asseler is specifically over ‘sacrificing fertility;’ it was so high because as children (ages 8-13), the gender-confused kids said they never wanted babies, but by an average age of 32, they realized they desperately wanted children but were made permanently sterile by their teens. The diagnosis of gender dysphoria is correct. The claim that any child is trapped in the wrong body or that their gender identity is innate and immutable is science fiction.</blockquote>
Dr. Allen then added that Dr. Cretella’s testimony contained:
<blockquote>&#8230;language that I know is really hurting the kids who may be listening &#8230; and the parents and the families who are trying to do what is right for their kids.</blockquote>
When I pressed Dr. Allen to substantiate her claims of “disinformation” in Dr. Cretella’s testimony, Dr. Allen said she stood by her testimony but would not speak on <a href="https://x.com/Nicoletta0602/status/1766084973298073905?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">camera</a> because it didn’t “feel genuine” to her. She emphasized again that the language in Dr. Cretella’s testimony was “very hurtful and really harmful for a lot of people, very inflammatory.” When I contended that Dr. Cretella’s testimony was scientific, Dr. Allen demurred, repeating that our conversation was not “genuine.” Dr. Allen offered to meet at a later date and provide written information but did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Other medical provider witnesses echoed Dr. Allen’s emotional appeals supplanting scientific arguments to shield gender doctors from lawsuits. For example, Dr. William Dewitt, Medical Director of Open Door Health Clinic, <a href="https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv/show/318?site=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> to his clinic “being targeted on social media by individuals and groups motivated by fear and hatred.” Perhaps he is referring to my own <a href="https://twitter.com/Nicoletta0602/status/1760647786339385503?t=f_bmRGLGpZALj-S6DZ6AKg&amp;s=19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X questioning the age threshold in his clinic’s advertisement for “gender-affirming medical care for children and adolescents.” There is no hatred in asking for the ages of children starting “gender-affirming care” treatments, but Dr. Dewitt is right to note that there is fear, which is well-warranted given the alarming <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-data-shows-skyrocketing-gender-clinic-referrals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">number</a> of children whose lives have been destroyed by doctors claiming to help them.
* * *
Nicole Solas is a senior fellow at Independent Women’s Forum (iwf.org).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

State House of Rhode Island

I Testified On Behalf Of A Pediatrician Defending Detransitioners. Here’s What Happened.

Rhode Island

A review of 60 studies of the mental health of transgender-identifying youth found that “there is no long-term evidence that current &#8216;gender affirming&#8217; medication and surgical protocols benefit their mental well-being,” according to a group representing pediatricians.
The American College of Pediatricians issued a position statement on Wednesday <a href="https://acpeds.org/position-statements/mental-health-in-adolescents-with-incongruence-of-gender-identity-and-biological-sex">opposing the gender transitioning of youth</a> based on the literature review. It comes just after a watchdog group filed a scientific integrity complaint against Department of Health and Human Services official Rachel Levine for claiming that “there is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hhs-says-it-has-only-two-pages-of-scientific-evidence-backing-its-support-for-gender-affirming-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no argument</a> among medical professionals regarding &#8220;the value and the importance of gender-affirming care.”
HHS provided only two pages to support the idea that the gender transitioning of children was “necessary.” Levine, a man who believes he is a woman, has often dodged the question by saying that “accredited medical professional groups agree that gender-affirming care is medically necessary.”
The American College of Pediatricians is a small group of pediatricians, many of them conservative, that formed in part due to dismay over the way that the much larger pediatrics group, the American Association of Pediatrics, passes activist statements that are then used as if they represent the views of all pediatricians, even though <a href="https://acpeds.org/about/faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only a handful were involved</a>.
Given the well-documented problems that often go hand-in-hand with being transgender, the sharp and sudden increase in the number of youth who question their gender should be something that raises alarm bells for physicians, the group said.
Its <a href="https://acpeds.org/position-statements/mental-health-in-adolescents-with-incongruence-of-gender-identity-and-biological-sex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paper</a> said that intake surveys by a gender-affirming clinic in Europe found that “gender dysphoric adolescents are significantly more likely to show psychopathological abnormalities than their cisgender peers.” Such research is often portrayed as showing that society makes life too hard for transgender people. 
But children may be transgender as a result of other mental issues, rather than having mental issues because society is not accepting of their transition, the pediatricians’ paper said. For example, the paper states that autistic children are more likely to be transgender than non-autistic children. While one wouldn’t claim that transgenderism caused the children to become autistic, activists more readily cast depression, self-harm, and other ailments as the effect of not being able to transition, rather than being associated with underlying conditions that may lead children to be confused about their gender in the first place.
A study of 120,617 adolescents found that the majority of female-to-male transgenders made a suicide attempt, the highest rate of any group. Activists often tell parents that their choice is between supporting a gender transition or having a dead child, arguing that so-called &#8220;gender affirming care&#8221; is life-saving.
But what they do not say is that things don’t get better because a gender transition is affirmed, according to the data. Multiple studies found that transgender-identifying youth had social problems whether or not they transitioned, with one finding that “there was little evidence that psychosocial well-being varied in relation to gender transition status.”
Studies also found that many youth who question their gender eventually change their minds, whereas those who are affirmed are more likely to be relegated to a life of transgenderism, with its attendant mental problems. When a University of Toronto gender dysphoria clinic followed up on its patients years later, they found that 88% were “desisters,” or had changed their mind about being transgender — suggesting that if the clinic had performed gender surgery, the patients would have had severe regret.
When activists cite studies that state that affirmed transgenders do better than non-affirmed ones, a look at the actual available data show that the slight difference in suicidality between the two groups is far less notable than how unacceptably high the figure is for both groups. For example, in one study billed as promoting how essential it was to give puberty blockers to youth, 42% of those who received care still tried to kill themselves.
A study using Denmark’s national database, reviewing 6.6 million individuals over four decades, found that transgender people were 3.5 times more likely to kill themselves compared to normal people. If accommodating and supporting transgender people was a sufficient treatment, then that disparity shouldn’t exist since Denmark is “recognized by the European chapter of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans &amp; Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe) as the third best country in Europe for its protection of sexual and gender minority rights.”
The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare concluded that “the risk of hormonal interventions for gender dysphoric youth outweigh the potential benefits,” stating that there is insufficient evidence supporting that the treatments work, especially considering that the population of purportedly transgender youth has exploded in recent years and experts cannot explain why. (One reason, the pediatrics group suggests, is that in a developing brain, a “desire for excitement via novel behavior may entice adolescents to experiment with alternative gender roles.”)
The American College of Pediatricians concluded that the group &#8220;cannot condone the social affirmation, medical intervention, or surgical mutilation of children and adolescents identifying as transgender or gender nonconforming.  Rather, intensive psychotherapy for the individual and family to determine and hopefully treat the underlying etiology of their gender incongruence should be pursued.&#8221;
&#8220;More attention and support should be afforded to individuals seeking help in detransitioning after having made a decision during their formative adolescent years with life-long consequences, including possible sterility and loss of sexual function,&#8221; it said.

Doctor nurse followup data with medical examination document for patient health check in hospital or clinic.

Pediatricians Group Says Research Doesn’t Support ‘Gender Affirming’ Treatments

American Medical Association

A woman who was pumped with testosterone and underwent hormone therapy when she was a young teenager is suing both her doctors and the American Academy of Pediatrics, which her lawyers say has knowingly lied about the impact of the radical sex-change treatments it recommends, according to a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Ayala-v-AAP-Complaint_stamped.pdf">copy of the lawsuit</a> obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire.
Isabelle Ayala, now a twenty-year-old woman, had just turned fourteen when she was committed to the hospital for suicidal thoughts, according to the lawsuit. It was during this hospital stay that she met with Dr. Jason Rafferty, who during his first brief meeting with Ayala determined that she “meets criteria to consider hormonal transition,” with the only stated obstacle being parental consent. The lawsuit states that Rafferty and other doctors sent Ayala down the &#8220;path of &#8216;gender-affirming&#8217; medicalization&#8221; rather than addressing the true roots of her mental health problems — six months into her testosterone treatments, Ayala tried to commit suicide.
The treatments, however, continued, until Ayala moved away from Rhode Island and decided to quit them &#8220;cold-turkey.&#8221; Now comfortable with her gender, she regrets what the doctors did to her, the lawsuit says.
&#8220;Isabelle is now twenty years old and longs for what could have been and to have her healthy, female body back,&#8221; it says. &#8220;The changes the testosterone have had on her body are a constant reminder that she needed an unbiased medical expert willing to evaluate her mental health and provide her the care she needed, rather than a group of ideologues set on promoting their own agenda and furthering a broader conspiracy at her expense.&#8221;
The lawsuit not only goes after the doctors who treated Ayala, but also the American Academy of Pediatrics, where Rafferty and his colleagues worked to publish a now-infamous <a href="https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2018/aap-policy-statement-urges-support-and-care-of-transgender-and-gender-diverse-children-and-adolescents/">policy statement</a> advocating for aggressive gender treatments for children. Lawyers for Ayala say the policy statement laid the groundwork for an &#8220;entirely new model of treatment&#8221; based on &#8220;outright fraudulent representations&#8221; of scientific proof.
&#8220;Defendants have doubled- and tripled-down on their commitment to the policy statement and its &#8216;affirmative model&#8217; of treatment, while continuing to promote and profit off it,&#8221; the lawsuit states, alleging that Ayala and other children are &#8220;victims of a conspiracy entered into and perpetuated to the present day by certain ideologically captured individuals in positions of power at the American Academy of Pediatrics.&#8221;
The American Academy of Pediatrics has been a staunch supporter of radical gender ideology, with Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh saying it has been &#8220;ideologically captured&#8221; by leftist activists. Walsh wrote in August 2022 that the policy statement on how to care for &#8220;transgender and gender-diverse children and adolescents reads like a trans activism manifesto, not a medical guide.&#8221;
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THREAD. The American Academy of Pediatrics is the largest association of pediatricians in the country. It is also ideologically captured. An activist group masquerading as a medical organization. Do a little digging and this fact becomes clear.
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1562454866622291970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Rafferty was the lead author for the policy statement, and the lawsuit argues he&#8217;s used it to launch his medical career.
&#8220;[Rafferty] has gone from a little-known resident during his time drafting the Gender Policy Statement to having a highly successful practice in pediatric gender care and considered a leading authority on the subject, all while operating under the imprimatur of the authority he falsely created,&#8221; it says.
Among the other doctors involved in treating Ayala at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital Gender Clinic in Rhode Island was Dr. Michelle Forcier, a proponent of so-called &#8220;gender affirming care&#8221; for children whose perspective was featured in Walsh&#8217;s &#8220;What Is A Woman?&#8221; documentary. Ayala told Forcier that she was &#8220;increasingly depressed and anxious&#8221; with the testosterone treatments, but she did nothing to intervene.
The lawsuit argues that Forcier has also boosted her career through advocacy for radical treatments, pointing to her appearing in the &#8220;What Is A Woman?&#8221; documentary. The lawsuit notes that Forcier &#8220;was prominently featured in one of the most viewed documentaries of all time in 2022 as a leading expert in pediatric gender care and puberty blockers.&#8221;
In the interview, Forcier denies the existence of reality when it comes to gender. Asked whether it&#8217;s possible to know the gender of a chicken laying an egg, Forcier stated that it&#8217;s only possible to assign that chicken a gender.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zdDB8wU73NA?si=71ZuxL7LDTTF5a4Y" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Both doctors Rafferty and Forcier were named in a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12654975/Detransitioner-multiple-personality-gender-reassignment.html">Friday lawsuit filed by the same law firm</a>, Campbell Miller Payne PLLC.  That suit is on behalf of a woman with multiple personality disorder who says she was pressured by the doctors into undergoing aggressive testosterone treatments and is now dealing with the painful and permanent side effects.
Ayala is &#8220;an unfortunate victim of a collection of actors who prioritized politics and ideology over children’s safety, health, and well-being,&#8221; the lawsuit filed on her behalf states. She had suffered with her mental health ever since being a victim of sexual abuse, long before she began entertaining the idea of gender transition as a solution to her depression. The lawsuit says that Rafferty, Forcier, and other doctors failed to even consider other options to address her mental health before putting her on an aggressive hormone and testosterone regimen.
Ayala told her doctors that she was concerned about losing the ability to give birth, but they put her on the treatments anyway, without disclosing the potential harm the drugs administered could have on the reproductive system.
The lawsuit says that Ayala is worse off now than before she was treated by the doctors, and asks that they be held &#8220;accountable for their wrongful acts.&#8221;
&#8220;Isabelle has suffered from vaginal atrophy from the extensive use of testosterone; she deals with excess facial and body hair; she struggles with compromised bone structure; she is unsure whether her fertility has been irreversibly compromised; she still has mental health issues and deals with episodes of anxiety and depression, further compounded by a sense of regret; and she has since contracted an autoimmune disease that only the males in her family have a history of,&#8221; the lawsuit explains.
The lawsuit comes as the number of detransitioners who regret undergoing sex-change treatments spike in the United States. Nonprofit group Do No Harm published a &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/detransitioner-bill-of-rights-gives-states-blueprint-to-push-back-on-radical-gender-ideology">Detransitioner Bill Of Rights</a>&#8221; earlier this month, laying out a legislative blueprint for empowering victims to go after medical professionals who administered treatments and help with reversing the effects of gender transition surgeries.

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EXCLUSIVE: American Academy of Pediatrics Named In Bombshell Detransitioner Lawsuit

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The American Academy Of Pediatrics (AAP) has announced a review of &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gender">gender</a> dysphoric children in a win for those who have long called for such a review.
The country&#8217;s leading pediatrician professional association said last week that it will conduct a &#8220;systematic review of the evidence&#8221; around transgender medical interventions for children.
Such interventions can include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, double mastectomies to make girls appear more masculine, and sometimes even genital surgeries for older youth.
The AAP authorized the development of an &#8220;expanded set of guidance for pediatricians based on a systematic review of the evidence,&#8221; the group <a href="https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/25340/AAP-reaffirms-gender-affirming-care-policy?autologincheck=redirected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in press release on Friday.
However, AAP leadership also reaffirmed their confidence in the current guidelines and said they remain in the best interests of children.
&#8220;The decision to authorize a systematic review reflects the board’s concerns about restrictions to access to health care with bans on gender-affirming care in more than 20 states,&#8221; the AAP said. &#8220;The AAP opposes any laws or regulations that discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse individuals, or that interfere in the doctor-patient relationship.&#8221;
The AAP&#8217;s <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20182162/37381/Ensuring-Comprehensive-Care-and-Support-for?autologincheck=redirected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">current guidelines</a> for pediatric transgender medical interventions include &#8220;social affirmation&#8221; of a child who identifies as the opposite gender, puberty blockers during puberty, cross-sex hormones from early adolescence onward, and &#8220;top&#8221; and &#8220;bottom&#8221; surgeries &#8220;typically&#8221; for adults but also for adolescents on a case-by-case basis.
Other surgeries such as &#8220;facial feminization&#8221; can be considered for adolescents as well, the AAP guidelines say.
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Puberty blockers are dubbed &#8220;reversible,&#8221; and cross-sex hormones as &#8220;partially reversible,&#8221; the AAP says.
However, both puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones come with serious health risks. Puberty blockers can <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/in-depth/pubertal-blockers/art-20459075">affect</a> bone growth and density and cause sexual dysfunction, voice damage, and infertility, among other issues. Cross-sex hormones can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-young-people-in-u-s-have-nearly-doubled-recently-report-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cause</a> infertility, deadly blood clots, heart attacks, increased cancer risks of the breasts and ovaries, liver dysfunction, worsening psychological illness, and other serious conditions.
Hundreds of teen girls in the U.S., some as young as 12, <a href="https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/101252?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2022-10-17&amp;eun=g394940d0r&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Evening%202022-10-17&amp;utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have gotten</a> elective, gender-related double mastectomies to remove their healthy breasts over the last few years.
Meanwhile, it is more popular than ever for youth to adopt new gender identities. An estimated 300,000 minors aged 13 to 17 <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/transgender-estimate-press-release/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identified</a> as transgender as of last year.
The AAP&#8217;s updated policy will reflect new data and research on transgender medical interventions. AAP&#8217;s board regularly reviews evidence and policies and will invite &#8220;other stakeholders&#8221; to share input on the new policy, the group said.
Advocates who oppose children being rushed through transgender medical interventions hailed the decision to review the policy.
&#8220;As it stands, there is no long-term quality evidence that substantiates the widespread use of puberty blockers. We do not know how this will affect children in the long term. Thankfully, last week’s decision by the AAP to acknowledge this galactic gap in the evidence will highlight how there is no evidence to support the recent surge towards ‘gender-affirmative care,'&#8221; wrote Stella O’Malley, a psychotherapist who works with young people.
O&#8217;Malley is the director of Genspect, a U.K.-based group that advocates for doctors to start with the least invasive approach for gender distress.
Last year, Genspect wrote an open letter calling on the AAP to update its gender care policy. The letter was <a href="https://genspect.org/an-open-letter-to-the-american-academy-of-pediatrics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> by doctors, psychologists, and even one former fellow of the AAP.
The AAP is a the largest professional association for pediatricians in the country with 67,000 members.

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American Academy Of Pediatrics Announces Review Of ‘Gender Affirming Care’

American Academy Of Pediatrics Announces Review Of 'Gender Affirming Care'

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