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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is defending gender clinicians in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a female detransitioner who received harmful testosterone treatments while experiencing dissociative identity disorder.
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Layton Ulery had eight documented personalities and was &#8220;practically and legally disabled&#8221; when she was prescribed sex-rejecting testosterone by <a href="https://www.vistaclinicalresearchgroup.com/jason-rafferty">Dr. Jason Rafferty</a> at the <a href="https://www.thundermisthealth.org/about-us/mission-vision-values/">Thundermist Health Center</a> (HC) in Rhode Island, according to her November 2025 <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1-1-Ex.-A-Second-Amended-Complaint.pdf">lawsuit</a>. Rafferty, the <a href="https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/12710/Pediatricians-are-key-in-supporting-transgender">lead author</a> of the American Academy of Pediatrics gender transition <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20182162/37381/Ensuring-Comprehensive-Care-and-Support-for?autologincheck=redirected">policy</a>, recognized Ulery&#8217;s deeply troubled mental state but still recommended she start testosterone, according to the lawsuit.
&#8220;To take me when I was in such a vulnerable state and essentially give me no hope whatsoever that it was ever possible for me to recover and to sentence me to a life of health issues and permanent physical damage &#8230; I just think it is so heinous,&#8221; Ulery told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I can&#8217;t believe that it was ever allowed to happen.&#8221;
Thundermist HC is part of the <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federally-qualified-health-center-fqhc/">Federally Qualified Health Center</a> program that <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter6A/subchapter2/partD&amp;edition=prelim">funds</a> nonprofit community health clinics providing essential healthcare services to vulnerable populations. The program is run by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HRSA-funded <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/about-health-center-program">health centers</a> and their employees are treated as <a href="https://www.usphs.gov/">public</a> health employees and receive medical malpractice liability coverage from the federal government, in accordance with the <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/compliance/ftca">Federal Tort Claims Act</a> (FTCA). Under the FTCA, those harmed by federal employees can <a href="https://www.opm.gov/about-us/get-help/federal-tort-claims-act/#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Tort%20Claims%20Act%20(FTCA)%20sets,act%20proximately%20caused%20the%20injury%20or%20damage">seek compensation</a> from the federal government rather than the individual who committed the tort, according to <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/compliance/ftca/what-ftca">HRSA</a>&#8216;s website.
&#8220;A covered entity or individual is immune and will not be financially liable for any claims arising from covered activities,&#8221; states the HRSA <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/compliance/ftca/what-ftca">website</a>. &#8220;Covered activities are acts or omissions in the performance of medical, surgical, dental, or related functions resulting in personal injury, including death, and occurring within the scope of employment.&#8221;
Legal documents show DOJ attorneys are representing Thundermist HC and its affiliates in Ulery&#8217;s malpractice lawsuit in accordance with the FTCA.
Ulery&#8217;s lawsuit was initially filed in October 2023 and bounced between state and federal courts for nearly two years before her federal claims were dismissed in September 2025. Ulery amended her complaint in November 2025, and the case was transferred back to federal court. DOJ attorneys recently moved to <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/7-Def-MTD-2.20.26.pdf">dismiss</a> Ulery&#8217;s case with prejudice, while Ulery is asking that the parties be allowed to engage in mediation.
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Josh Payne, PLLC, Ulery&#8217;s lawyer, told The Daily Wire he believes the DOJ&#8217;s actions in this case do not reflect the Trump administration&#8217;s commitment to stopping gender ideology.
&#8220;The Trump Administration is not practicing what it preaches in this particular circumstance,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;We&#8217;re calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to get a grip on this case and instruct her staff to negotiate with us and try to resolve this case without further burdening the court,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This is not what federal tax dollars should be spent on to defend. It’s bad enough tax dollars were used to fund the mistreatment Layton experienced at the federally-funded clinic. The administration should be protecting vulnerable people like Layton, not fighting them.”
The DOJ told The Daily Wire it is &#8220;fundamentally opposed&#8221; to gender ideology and stated that Ulery filed her claims outside the statute of limitations.
&#8220;The Department is fundamentally opposed to woke gender ideology and is using every legal and law enforcement tool available to protect youth from being mutilated under the guise of ‘care.’ Any suggestion otherwise is patently false,” a DOJ spokesperson told The Daily Wire. “As the Department has stated through filings and to counsel, the U.S. has moved to dismiss Ms. Ulery’s case because her claims are procedurally barred by the statute of limitations and failure to exhaust.&#8221;
Ulery&#8217;s legal team argued the statute of limitations should be extended because the tort occurred when she could not realize she&#8217;d been harmed due to her incapacitated mental state, court <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/8-Response-to-US-MTD-Ulery-25-cv-00619.pdf">documents</a> show.
&#8220;Dr. Rafferty and others at Thundermist misled Layton into believing the testosterone would cure her mental health problems. She had no reason to think the testosterone could harm her. It was only when she heard stories of other detransitioners that she discovered testosterone can harm women like her,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;All of the people that I was surrounded by were essentially people who were dissociated from reality, which was certainly not helpful in the circumstance that I was in,&#8221; Ulery told The Daily Wire. &#8220;No one even presented me with the idea that healing was possible.&#8221;
The lawsuit describes that Ulery escaped a cult from which she suffered 18 years of &#8220;physical, sexual, and psychological torment&#8221; and later sought the help of a therapist for her severe Dissociative Identity Disorder. Her therapist &#8220;began convincing Layton that she was a transgender man and in need of further medicalization&#8221; and referred her to <a href="https://www.thundermisthealth.org/about-us/mission-vision-values/">Thundermist HC</a> for sex-rejecting medical treatment, according to the lawsuit.
Thundermist HC removed a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250414024516/https://www.thundermisthealth.org/services/trans-health-access/">webpage</a> devoted to &#8220;Trans Health Access&#8221; that was saved in the Internet Archive on April 14, 2025. The Daily Wire asked the clinic if it still provides so-called gender affirming medical interventions, but it did not respond to requests for comment.
The Daily Wire asked HRSA to clarify if HRSA-funded clinics could provide so-called gender affirming care, but did not receive clarification. A HRSA representative told The Daily Wire it &#8220;does not comment on pending litigation and defers any questions regarding Federal Tort Claims Act litigation to the Department of Justice.&#8221;
Ulery has reclaimed her female identity and no longer experiences dissociation; however, she still suffers from irreversible effects of testosterone treatments, including body disfigurement, ongoing estrogen deficiencies, and chronic inflammation of her vocal cords.
&#8220;Every single day I wake up with a sore throat. Not only is it sore but my vocal cords are chronically inflamed, and I lose my voice very easily,&#8221; Ulery told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I am just asking for the consideration of the settlement for there to be some level of accountability because I think it was beyond unacceptable.&#8221;
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&#8220;Her case should be resolved. We should not even be having a discussion about this. The parties should be able to work this out and get it settled,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire tried to reach Dr. Jason Rafferty through his employer, Brown Health, but did not receive a response.
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Mississippi is one of 16 states that has bannedtrans kids from getting hormones.

Trump DOJ Forced To Defend Gender Doctor Against Detransitioner Lawsuit

detransitioner

Gender Transition

Transgender

Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an important ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta, a case addressing whether schools can implement policies that deliberately exclude parents from critical decisions about their children’s well-being. The Court answered that question with a clear and resounding no.
In its order, the Court reinstated a prior injunction, barring California schools from enforcing policies that conceal students’ gender transitions from parents or require teachers to use names or pronouns inconsistent with biological sex. Under these rules, this information was withheld from parents unless the child consented. Naturally, many parents and teachers challenged these policies, arguing that they violated constitutional rights.
The Court agreed that the parents raising religious objections are likely to win their claims under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. The justices also found that the policies are likely to interfere with parents’ long-recognized constitutional right to direct the upbringing and care of their children under the Fourteenth Amendment.
In reaching that conclusion, the Court relied on decades of precedent that affirm the role of parents in guiding their children’s development, including Wisconsin v. Yoder and Troxel v. Granville. The message is straightforward: when it comes to consequential decisions affecting a child’s identity, mental health, and moral development, the government cannot simply push parents aside.
This ruling arrives amid a broader national debate over how schools respond to students experiencing gender dysphoria. In many districts, policies have emerged that treat transgender identity as a matter between the student and the school, <a href="https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/protecting-children-from-social-transition-act">rather than between the child and their family</a>. Supporters argue that such policies protect vulnerable students. But the Court’s decision highlights a critical problem: removing parents from the conversation can undermine the very support systems children need most.
Parents are typically the first line of care when a child is struggling emotionally or psychologically. The Court recognized this reality, noting that <a href="https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/gender-dysphoria-and-the-social-transition-intervention">gender dysphoria</a> is a condition with significant <a href="https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/gender-dysphoria-and-the-social-transition-intervention">mental health implications</a>. When schools conceal information about a child’s confusion with their biological sex from parents, they risk shutting out those most responsible for providing guidance, counseling, and medical care.
The Court’s reasoning also exposes an uncomfortable truth that has been too often ignored in public policy debates: decisions about “gender” identity during adolescence can have profound and lasting consequences.
That reality becomes particularly important as more individuals speak openly about the experience of detransition — discontinuing gender transition procedures after coming to regret them. While research on detransition remains limited, emerging evidence suggests that some young people who went through so-called “gender affirming care” did so because of social pressure. Others say the real reason for their psychological distress was not addressed, and the transition process only further complicated their existing pain.
This is why parental involvement matters. Adolescence is a time of rapid emotional and cognitive development. Decisions made during that process should not occur in isolation from parents who are legally and morally responsible for their children’s welfare.
This week, advocates and researchers will observe Detransition Awareness Day on March 12. The day highlights the experiences of individuals who have reversed or questioned their earlier identification as transgender and seeks to promote better research and support for those navigating a similar path.
Their stories underscore an important point: the debate surrounding our biological sex is not simply theoretical. It involves real people whose lives are shaped by the policies adopted by schools, medical institutions, and governments.
Acknowledging detransition means recognizing the complexity of adolescent identity and the need for careful, responsible approaches that prioritize long-term well-being.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli does not resolve every problem that surrounds the gender topic, but the ruling establishes a vital principle: parents cannot be treated as obstacles in their children’s lives. In fact, they are the opposite – parents are the people primarily responsible for guiding their children through the most difficult and formative stages of adolescence. To exclude them from decisions that carry permanent, harmful, and lasting consequences is contrary to the very concept of what it means to raise a child.
As the nation reflects on detransition and the broader questions surrounding the gender issue, policymakers would do well to remember what the Court reaffirmed this week — families matter, and parents deserve a seat at the table.
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Dr. Jennifer Bauwens is America First Policy Institute’s Director of American Values.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Mother hold hand schoolboy walking to bus. Energetic pupils running crossway.

The Parent Trap: The Detransition Reality Schools Tried To Hide From Moms And Dads

California

Children

Opinion

Parental Rights in Education

Parenting

Parents rights

Public Schools

Supreme Court

The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a case surrounding a statute that could impact how gender medical malpractice lawsuits are handled across the country.
Detransitioner Soren Aldaco’s medical malpractice lawsuit was dismissed in November 2024 when a judge ruled her claims were filed outside of Texas’ two-year statute of limitations, nullifying her ability to seek damages for the harms caused by her sex-rejecting surgery.
When Aldaco’s appeal <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TaXEX_NtHw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reached</a> the Texas Supreme Court this week, her counsel argued the statute of limitations couldn’t begin until she was physically harmed by the surgeon&#8217;s knife.
“What was done to Miss Aldaco and many people like her is a medical scandal,” attorney John Ramer argued. “Kids and young adults suffering from severe psychological distress went looking for help, and what they found is medical providers saying that what&#8217;s going to liberate them from their distress is pumping them full of cross sex hormones and cutting off their body parts.”
Some Texas lawmakers have <a href="https://x.com/shelbyslawson/status/2019111108553084979" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed legislation</a> that would <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/HB00888I.pdf#navpanes=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extend</a> the statute of limitations from two to ten years for those harmed by rejection interventions in their state. They say that Aldaco’s case highlights the need for reform.
“Cases like Soren’s are not the intent of these two-year statutes of limitations in the Texas Medical Liability Act,” Texas State Representative Shelby Slawson told The Daily Wire. “Those limitations are not meant to give safe harbor hideouts for medical professionals whose ideology causes egregious harm to Texas patients.”
The outcome of Aldaco’s case could reverberate across the country. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice <a href="https://www.rocketlawyer.com/family-and-personal/health-and-medical/personal-injury/legal-guide/medical-malpractice-statute-of-limitations-by-state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">varies</a> from state to state, with many limiting the timeframe in which a patient can sue between one and three years after the injury occurred. If the Texas Supreme Court rules in Aldaco’s favor, it could inspire detransitioners in other states to bring similar suits.
Attorneys for Aldaco say the court &#8220;clearly expressed concern&#8221; at what was done to her, and are hopeful that its ruling &#8220;will encourage courts in other states to ensure justice for their vulnerable citizens.&#8221;
&#8220;Soren&#8217;s case reaching the Texas Supreme Court highlights the fact that the treatment she was subjected to is unprecedented,&#8221; Daniel Sepulveda, a partner 
at Campbell Miller Payne told The Daily Wire. &#8220;During oral argument, the Court clearly expressed concern at the idea of vulnerable individuals like Soren not having a reasonable amount of time to sue after being subjected to such medical and mental health treatments. A ruling in her favor would benefit all Texans harmed in these ways, and could also encourage courts in other states to ensure justice for their vulnerable citizens.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-one-has-a-right-to-sterilize-a-child-two-detransitioners-sue-doctors-over-medical-interventions?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=39&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98No+One+Has+A+Right+To+Sterilize+A+Child%E2%80%99%3A+Two+Detransitioners+Sue+Doctors+Over+Medical+Interventions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prisha Mosely,</a> who was given testosterone and underwent a sex rejecting double mastectomy as a teen, filed a lawsuit in <a href="https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/north-carolina-woman-files-lawsuit-in-wake-of-gender-transition-surgery-as-a-teen?redirectedfrom=cna" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July 2023</a> against her gender affirming healthcare providers that was initially <a href="https://www.independentwomen.com/2025/08/14/detransitioner-prisha-mosley-fights-to-revive-medical-malpractice-claim-in-lawsuit-poised-to-set-national-precedent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> because it was filed outside of North Carolina’s statute of limitations. In July 2025, the North Carolina General Assembly <a href="https://ncfamily.org/nc-general-assembly-overrides-governors-veto-of-hb-805/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed HB 805,</a> which extended the statute of limitations for sex-rejecting interventions to 10 years, allowing Mosely to <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/north_carolina/article_9097012b-b600-477b-b64c-3b1537846b44.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refile</a> her lawsuit.
Texas State Representative Brent Money told The Daily Wire that in cases where there has been a “clear violation of the duty of care,” it is important that individuals, particularly children, can seek compensation through the court system.
“We also need to make sure that, in cases where there&#8217;s a clear violation of the duty of care, that the patient, who has been wronged, can be adequately compensated for that. Especially when the patient is a child,” Money told The Daily Wire.
Aldaco, a woman who struggled with gender confusion throughout her adolescence, underwent a double mastectomy at 19 that she later regretted, court <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/second-court-of-appeals/2024/02-24-00217-cv.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documents show</a>. She sued her mental health providers, Barbara Rose Wood and Three Oaks Counseling Group, LLC, alleging they negligently wrote a surgical recommendation letter in February 2021 that allowed her to undergo the mastectomy in June 2021, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/second-court-of-appeals/2024/02-24-00217-cv.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">court documents</a> show.
Many insurance companies and surgeons require a timely <a href="https://www.templehealth.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/surgery-readiness-letter-guide-2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mental health assessment </a>and surgery recommendation <a href="https://transcare.ucsf.edu/surgery-referral-assessment-requirements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> in order to move forward with sex-rejecting surgery.
In May 2023, Aldaco sent her former healthcare providers notice of her “health care liability claims,” weeks before the two-year anniversary of her surgery, believing she was within the statute of limitations. However, a judge agreed with the defendants, who argued the two-year period of liability began when the surgical recommendation letter was written in February 2021, and Aldaco missed her window to sue, court documents show.
Ramer told the court that while the mental healthcare was provided before surgery, Aldaco didn’t have cause of action — giving her grounds for her lawsuit — until she underwent surgery.
“The limitations period for a health care liability claim does not begin to run before the claimant is even injured,” Ramer told the court.
“There&#8217;s no such thing as a tort without an injury, and more specifically here, there&#8217;s no such thing as a negligence claim without an injury,” Ramer stated.
Opposing counsel argued the statute of limitations began in February 2021, when the surgery letter of recommendation was written, and acknowledged Aldaco’s mental health provider did not discuss her gender dysphoria before writing the surgery recommendation letter.
Ramer explained to the justices that the surgical recommendation letter was not equivalent to a simple medical referral but was critical to Aldaco accessing a double mastectomy.
“The letter was the gateway to the injury,” Ramer said. “The letter is what got her into–onto–the operating table for purposes of receiving this surgery because it was a required letter from the psychologist under the standards of gender affirming care that have to be followed.”
In 2021, <a href="https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/625048/1/2011_WPATH_Standards_of_Care_V7-%202011.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guidance</a> from the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, whose recommendations underpin insurance and health policies worldwide, required patients to undergo a mental health assessment to determine if sex-rejecting was “medically necessary.”
The guidance stated mental health professionals and surgeons had a “shared responsibility” when deciding to move forward with irreversible sex-rejection surgeries.
A recent <a href="https://www.plasticsurgery.org/documents/health-policy/positions/2026-gender-surgery-children-adolescents.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policy statement</a> published by the American Society of Plastics Surgeons recommending minors do not receive sex-rejection surgeries addressed the role of “shared responsibility” in the multidisciplinary care of gender confused children.
“Diagnostic assessment, psychosocial support, endocrine intervention, and surgery form a connected clinical pathway rather than a series of independent steps,” the policy reads.
The American Society of Plastics Surgeons warned surgeons they cannot “rely” on the assessments of other healthcare disciplines when deciding if an adolescent is an appropriate candidate for sex-rejecting surgery.
“Surgical interventions inherit the foundational uncertainties present earlier in the continuum of care,” the policy says. “In this context, plastic surgeons cannot rely on the presence of a prior medical intervention, referral, or letter of support as a proxy for surgical indication or adolescent readiness.”
&#8220;Wednesday&#8217;s hearing at the Supreme Court of Texas is understatedly important. Even though I believe my case falls within the state&#8217;s two-year statute of limitations — and hopefully SCOTX will agree — detrans Texans deserve better,” Aldaco told The Daily Wire.
Barbara Wood and Three Oaks Counseling did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.

Doctor with LGBTQ pin

‘Safe Harbor Hideouts’ For Gender Surgeons Could Face Reckoning

Courts

Texas

J.K. Rowling celebrated a detransitioner&#8217;s recent $2 million malpractice victory as proof that the narrative promoted by trans activists for years has begun to unravel under legal and medical scrutiny.
Rowling highlighted the case of Fox Varian in a <a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/2018850475429302684">post to X</a>. &#8220;A young detransitioner, Fox Varian, has won $2 million damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit, in which she sued the psychologist and surgeon who approved her for a double mastectomy, aged 16,&#8221; she wrote. 
The Harry Potter author did not hold back her criticism of the trans movement in its entirety. &#8220;As the floodgates open, and more and more detransitioners sue the clinicians who subjected them to an unregulated medical experiment, gender identity activists will almost certainly continue to ignore any evidence that fails to support their preferred narrative,&#8221; she continued.
According to court testimony, Varian’s mother opposed the surgery but was warned that refusing transition would place her daughter at serious risk of suicide. The lawsuit is one of a growing number brought by detransitioners who say they were rushed into irreversible medical procedures while clinicians ignored or minimized dissent, as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/detransitioner-awarded-millions-in-first-malpractice-verdict-this-is-how-it-all-ends">reported</a> by The Daily Wire.
Rowling argued that the Varian verdict exposes what she described as a broader failure of medical oversight in pediatric gender care. Rowling described the practice as “barbarous” and said of the broader activism around trans ideology, “This will go down in history as one of the worst medical scandals of all time. Adults inside and outside the medical profession sold troubled young people like Varian the idea that all of their complex trauma would be resolved by removing healthy body parts.” The lawsuit, she said, shows what happens when those assurances collapse under legal scrutiny.
For Rowling, the case is not an anomaly but confirmation of what critics have argued all along: that pediatric gender medicine advanced at breakneck speed without the evidentiary foundation normally required for experimental treatments, let alone life-altering surgeries on minors.
Those concerns have been echoed by figures within the medical establishment itself. Speaking at a World Professional Association for Transgender Health conference in 2021, British endocrinologist Dr. Leighton Seal acknowledged that clinicians were performing procedures “where we don’t have outcome data.” In another widely circulated exchange, a patient described the process more bluntly, saying gender clinicians appeared to be “winging it” as they went.
Despite these admissions, trans activists have continued to insist that regret is rare, that clinicians know exactly what they are doing, and that denying medical transition to minors could lead to suicide. 
On Tuesday, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons released new guidelines recommending that gender-related surgeries should no longer be performed on patients “at least until age 19.” The updated guidance represents a notable shift from previous practices and challenges claims that such procedures are settled, routine, and unquestionably beneficial for minors.
Rowling is hardly a newcomer to this fight. Since late 2019, when she first publicly challenged gender ideology — particularly as it intersects with women’s rights, safeguarding for minors, and the medicalization of gender distress — she has been smeared as a bigot, subjected to cancelling, denounced by activists and celebrities, and effectively blacklisted in the cultural and publishing world. Despite the pressure, Rowling has continued to engage the issue directly.
Meanwhile, lawsuits brought by detransitioners are increasingly shifting the issue from cultural and political argument into courtrooms, where claims are evaluated through medical records, expert testimony, and established standards of care.
As additional cases proceed and medical institutions reassess prior assumptions, the debate over gender treatment for minors is likely to grow more contentious, with significant implications for clinicians, families, and policymakers alike. Rowling’s latest intervention signals her involvement with the legal and medical reckoning surrounding the issue is far from over.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald” UK Premiere – Red Carpet Arrivals

‘Floodgates Open’: J.K. Rowling Celebrates Detransitioner’s Momentous Court Victory

Chloe Cole

Fox Varian

J.K. Rowling

New details have emerged in the case of a young female detransitioner who last week <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/detransitioner-awarded-millions-in-first-malpractice-verdict-this-is-how-it-all-ends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> a $2 million judgment against the doctors who performed a double mastectomy on her when she was just 16 years old.
Notably, the plaintiff, Fox Varian, had her healthy breasts removed about one year after she first started questioning her gender. The teen&#8217;s mother was also pressured into signing off on the surgery, as one medical professional effectively said Varian would kill herself without the surgery.
Varian was given the name Isabella at birth, but changed it numerous times during the fallout from her parents&#8217; split, which included the estrangement of her father, independent journalist Benjamin Ryan said on X. Ryan was in the courtroom for the entire trial, and reported for the <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/a-legal-first-that-could-change-gender">Free Press</a>.
The young girl suffered from depression, anxiety, and social phobia and was diagnosed with autism and bounced around various schools, Ryan said. She also suffered from eating disorders and body-image issues.
However, at just 15 years old, she started to question her gender &#8220;during sessions with her psychologist,&#8221; who has been identified as psychologist Kenneth Einhorn. Just 11 months after Varian started to socially &#8220;transition,&#8221; the 16-year-old was on an operating table, where Dr. Simon Chin removed her healthy breasts.
In another shocking, yet unsurprising detail, Varian&#8217;s mother, Claire Deacon, was pressured by medical professionals, namely Einhorn, into signing off on her daughter&#8217;s surgical transition. Einhorn insisted Varian was going to kill herself without the surgery. Deacon was effectively presented with the option of having a dead daughter or a &#8220;son&#8221; who has undergone trans procedures.
The jury found that medical professionals failed to consider other possible explanations for Varian’s mental health issues — like depression, ADHD, autism, or body dysmorphia — and rushed to approve an irreversible surgery.
Varian, who recently turned 22, was awarded roughly $1.6 million for past and future suffering, and an additional $400,000 for future medical costs.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Claire Deacon, mother to Fox Varian, the detransitioner who won a $2M jury award after suing her care providers over the mastectomy she got at 16, testified that Varian&#8217;s psychologist, Kenneth Einhorn, browbeat her into consenting with threats of her child&#8217;s suicide.
I report… <a href="https://t.co/3vCfk54FNT">pic.twitter.com/3vCfk54FNT</a>
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) <a href="https://twitter.com/benryanwriter/status/2018183382513930585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
There are more than two dozen cases still pending similar to Varian&#8217;s, with detransitioners suing medical professionals for irreversible harm. Varian&#8217;s verdict could be the beginning of the end of the mutilation of children in the name of transgenderism.
&#8220;The case could be a model for other lawsuits over such surgeries performed on minors,&#8221; legal expert Jonathan Turley said. &#8220;There are more than two dozen such lawsuits currently pending in various courts.&#8221;
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The case could be a model for other lawsuits over such surgeries performed on minors. There are more than two dozen such lawsuits currently pending in various courts. <a href="https://t.co/78RuLrf1Q8">https://t.co/78RuLrf1Q8</a>
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonathanTurley/status/2017934402903277738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
Activist and detransitioner Chloe Cole, who started to medically transition at just 13 years old, said Varian&#8217;s verdict gives her hope.
&#8220;Varian V Einhorn is the first detransitioner lawsuit to reach a verdict, and Fox Varian was awarded $2M Even better is that this was in New York!&#8221; Cole posted online. &#8220;I am going to trial as well against my doctors with the Center for American Liberty and this gives me even more hope that I will get justice for myself.&#8221; 
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Varian V Einhorn is the first detransitioner lawsuit to reach a verdict, and Fox Varian was awarded $2M
Even better is that this was in New York!
I am going to trial as well against my doctors with <a href="https://twitter.com/Liberty_Ctr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Liberty_Ctr</a> and this gives me even more hope that I will get justice for myself <a href="https://t.co/TpbuFvFwuQ">pic.twitter.com/TpbuFvFwuQ</a>
— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChloeCole) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChloeCole/status/2017715062845095966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2026</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/detransitioner-awarded-millions-in-first-malpractice-verdict-this-is-how-it-all-ends?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Detransitioner+Awarded+Millions+In+First+Malpractice+Verdict%3A+‘This+Is+How+It+All+Ends’">Detransitioner Awarded Millions In First Malpractice Verdict: ‘This Is How It All Ends’</a>

Diverse people holding transgender flags

Shocking Details Emerge In Landmark $2 Million ‘Trans’ Malpractice Judgment

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gender ideology

Lawsuit