Researchers at Do No Harm aggregated and analyzed thousands of insurance claims from across all 50 states, matching procedures and prescriptions with gender-related diagnostic codes to confirm cases of medical "transitioning." The shocking statistics revealed that nearly 14,000 children in the U.S. underwent some sort of "sex-change" medical intervention between 2019 and 2023, such as surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones. This includes over 5,000 patients who had "gender intervention" surgery.
Do No Harm's dataset also includes profiles of the doctors, physician leadership, and board members at these hospitals who are complicit in creating and advancing this industry harming America's most vulnerable.
By ranking, here's how these pediatric hospitals have harmed the children they claim to treat:
Aptly abbreviated CHOP, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) touts itself as "a national leader in supporting transgender children, youth, and their families." CHOP operates the Gender & Sexuality Development Program, a "one-stop shop" serving "gender-variant, gender-nonconforming and transgender children and youth up to 21 years of age and their families" since its inception in 2014. As of March 2022, CHOP's gender clinic has "worked with more than 700 families, many of whom hail from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York."
In 2022, the Gender Program's medical director, Dr. Priya Phulwani, devised and published ideological "transgender care" accreditation material for the Medical Society of New Jersey, claiming that puberty blockers can be prescribed between the ages of 7-13 for girls and 9-14 for boys. The material also claimed that the effects of the puberty-pausing medicine are "reversible."
Phulwani also claimed there was only a "very, very slim" chance that gender dysphoric adolescents would change their minds about their gender identity once they hit puberty.
In October 2023, it was reported Connecticut Children's was developing a portal that would connect kids from states where "sex-change" surgeries and hormone injections are banned to resources that would help them pursue these exploits.
That year, U.S. Assistant Health Secretary Richard "Rachel" Levine delivered a speech at Connecticut Children's praising the "gender-affirming care" offered there.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- The program prescribes puberty blockers to children after receiving an evaluation letter from a mental health professional
- "If you have the pediatrician referral but not the evaluation letter as of yet, we will still be happy to see you in the clinic, but please note it will be an informational visit only."
- The program's website states that puberty blockers merely "pause" pubertal development.
- "The prescriptions may include reversible medical interventions that pause current puberty (also called ‘puberty blockers’) or those that initiate the desired pubertal changes (such as estrogen or testosterone)."
- The program provides "surgical options for gender affirmation"
- "The Division of Plastic Surgery at Connecticut Children's offers surgical options for gender affirmation to individuals who have documented and persistent gender dysphoria. Gender incongruence occurs when a person’s sex assigned at birth does not correspond to the gender with which they identify. Gender affirmation operations are a group of surgical procedures that may be appropriate for transgender and gender diverse people to help affirm their gender identity."
- 54 total "sex-change" patients
- 0 surgery patients
- 54 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 235 prescriptions written
- $2,863 submitted charges
Children's Minnesota operates the Gender Health Program, an "exclusively pediatric" program comprised of endocrinologists and gynecologists. On average, the program prescribes 14 gender-related prescriptions per patient.
The program's medical director, Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd ("they/them"), a "non-binary" pediatrician, has publicly supported legislation to ensure minors can access harmful gender-related medical interventions.
In a February 2023 blog post, Goepferd advocated for two Minnesota house bills: HF16/SF23, which prohibits so-called "conversion therapy" for children and vulnerable adults, and HF146/SF63, which protects access to "gender-affirming care" in Minnesota.
"You can come in with a four-year-old who wants to wear a dress and talk through conversations about gender. We don't have an agenda," Goepferd was quoted saying in an article, headlined "Transphobia Is Hazardous to Your Health."
Goepferd also reportedly believes "treating asthma and diabetes is no different from offering sex changes for kids."
"[T]here are plenty of possibilities of gender," Goepferd said during a 2020 training session for the medical center. "There's not just a he and a she; there's a they; there's other options. This is something that kids are growing up with now that will fundamentally change the way that we’re talking about this. And I think it's changing it now."
Like some schools have implemented, Goepferd uses a "genderbread person" in order to illustrate the concepts of gender identity and sexuality to children as well as hospital staff.
In 2020, Children's Minnesota hosted a podcast as part of their "Talking Pediatrics" series that discussed "the importance of providing affirming care to LGBTQ youth, including the importance of pronouns for transgender and gender diverse kids and equity actions we can all take to help end health disparities for LGBTQ kids and families."
After the death of "non-binary" teen Nex Benedict, the CEO of Children's Minnesota, Dr. Marc Gorelick, stated as a "call to action" that "transgender and gender diverse youth need and deserve a community of supportive adults who will do what’s right to keep them safe."
"Sex-change" services offered:
- "Gender consultation"
- Puberty blockers
- Cross-sex hormones
- Menstrual suppression medication
- Fertility preservation consultation
- 285 total "sex-change" patients
- 50 surgery patients
- 246 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 2,012 prescriptions written
- $1,425,270 submitted charges
A self-described "leader in the region for gender-affirming medical care," Seattle Children's Hospital operates its own Gender Clinic, one of the first clinics of its kind in the state of Washington.
The program, which accepts pubescent patients as young as nine years old, does not require complete parental consent for menstruation suppression drugs and testosterone treatment. Parental permission is also not required to schedule an appointment.
According to Dr. Juanita Hodax, a physician at Seattle Children's, "the right age to start treatment is different for each and every patient."
Seattle Children's performs "gender-affirming" surgery through their Surgical Gender Affiliation Program and "is the only pediatric academic medical center with fellowship-trained plastic surgeons who provide gender-affirming surgery" in the region.
The hospital has a letter template available on its website that recommends such surgeries for minors. It also distributes individual handouts promoting chest binding, "tucking," and "packing."
In one handout about menstrual health, the hospital claims that "bodies of all genders menstruate."
The Gender Clinic claimed that calling 911 poses a "potential risk of bias and harm" for individuals who identify as LGBTQ+.
In 2019, Seattle Children's published a case study of a 10-year-old girl desiring pubertal suppression and testosterone down the line. The patient's mother expressed concerns about the permanency of hormones. However, the mother "realized how distressing a female puberty would be." In 2022, Seattle Children's published a case study of a 14-year-old "non-binary" patient wishing to suppress menses, which the article called her "bleeding cycles."
In December 2023, doctors at Seattle Children's authored an article claiming that withholding "gender-affirming" procedures was "state-sanctioned medical neglect and abuse" of children.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- The clinic accepts "new patients ages 9 to 17.75" in the throes of puberty
- While the clinic does not require parental permission to schedule an appointment, consent is required from parents or guardians for certain services.
- "Gender-affirming hormones (estradiol or testosterone) do require parental consent from all parents who have medical decision-making power, because these treatments have the potential for irreversible long-term effects. Puberty blockers (Lupron injections or histrelin implant) are a reversible treatment but do require parental consent, as patients are typically at a younger age when this treatment is being considered. Complete parental consent is not required for medications used to suppress menstrual cycles in transgender boys or for some testosterone blockers in transgender girls. Parental permission is also not required to schedule an appointment in the Gender Clinic."
- The clinic offers puberty blockers to children who have "started puberty but have not yet completed"
- The hospital offers hormones to "help make a person's physical body match their inner gender identity" and will "partner with you to explore your insurance coverage and any other resources to make sure you get the care you need"
- Facial feminization surgery, thyroid cartilage surgery, breast augmentation, mastectomy, chest reduction, penile-inversion vaginoplasty, peritoneal vaginoplasty, intestinal vaginoplasty, valvopathy, and phalloplasty are all offered as surgical options
- Fertility preservation is also available
- "We strongly recommend talking with your medical provider about fertility preservation before starting gender-affirming medications. Starting earlier can make it less likely for fertility preservation to delay other parts of your care. If you want to preserve sperm or eggs, you must do so before having surgical removal of the testes (orchiectomy) or removal of the ovaries (oophorectomy)."
- 265 total "sex-change" patients
- 165 surgery patients
- 103 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 888 prescriptions written
- $1,749,780 submitted charges
Children's Hospital Los Angeles operates the Center for Transyouth Health and Development (CTYHD), which is described as one of the oldest "transyouth" programs in the country. CTYHD differentiates itself from other gender clinics by rejecting "the gatekeeper model of care" and instead focusing on "how to help our patients and families in the least restrictive environment possible."
The clinic asserts that its youngest patients, as young as 3 years old, "receive no medical interventions, just counseling."
In 2019, CTYHD purportedly received "five new young people" every week and saw "a huge rise in teenage girls and a rise in non-binary identities."
CTYHD is led by its medical director, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, who says that psychological assessments are not needed for children "transitioning," endorses providing "cross-sex hormones to kids as young as 12," and advises that "watchful waiting" "amounts to neglect."
CTYHD previously partnered with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to showcase a wide range of the gender clinic's services.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- Case management services, including assistance with legal-name and gender-marker changes
- CTYHD offers resource guides explaining how to chest-bind and "tuck"
- 301 total "sex-change" patients
- 159 surgery patients
- 149 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 752 prescriptions written
- $6,554,955 submitted charges
Boston Children’s Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, offers "sex-change" services to patients ages three and up through its Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS). Advertised services include hormone therapy, psychological services, and surgical consultation. Despite a documented history of billing for "sex-changes" surgeries, in a recent statement, Boston Children’s Hospital announced "that we will not perform clitoroplasty or vaginoplasty" on patients "who are too young to participate in a meaningful discussion of the implications of these surgeries, unless anatomical differences threaten the physical health of the child."
From 2017 to 2020, Boston Children's Hospital reportedly performed 204 "gender affirmation" surgeries. Patients as young as 15 have undergone breast or chest augmentations. The hospital also offered vaginoplasty surgeries to 17-year-olds without parental consent, but said it would only perform a phalloplasty or a metoidioplasty, which surgically constructs a penis, on patients 18 and above.
Dr. Oren Ganor, co-director of Boston Children's Hospital Center for Gender Surgery, previously called for a "drastic increase in capacity" for such surgeries for minors.
Ganor stated in an email that the hospital is "slightly flexible" when it comes to the age of biological boys seeking genital disfigurement surgery. However, the policy had not been finalized, he said, "because of the issue around consent for sterilization."
The Boston Children's Hospital website hosts a statement defending "gender-affirming care" and highlighting the hospital's role in campaigning against legislation that protects children from such services.
The hospital's site also hosted videos, which have since been removed, claiming that children can already know that they are "transgender" while still in utero and that the clinic sees patients as young as two years old.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- Boston Children's Hospital GeMS services patients aged three to 25
- The hospital's surgery policy states that they will only perform clitoroplasty or vaginoplasty on patients who are old enough to "participate in a meaningful discussion of the complications."
- 136 total "sex-change" patients
- 64 surgery patients
- 77 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 518 prescriptions written
- $926,506 submitted charges
Rady Children's Hospital operates the Center for Gender-Affirming Care, which provides pediatric patients with hormone treatment, puberty blockers, voice therapy, and referrals for "sex-change" surgeries.
In June 2015, Dr. Maja Marinkovic, the program's medical director, said that the clinic has seen a "surge [in referrals] as a result of the media focus on transgender people."
Dr. Ron Newfield, an endocrinologist at Rady Children’s Hospital, told KPBS that puberty blockers can "bring a lot of relief to a child," as they halt the development of what he called the "wrong body."
In April 2016, the San Diego Union-Tribune profiled a 14-year-old girl who received "gender-affirming care" at Rady Children's Hospital. There, she was put on hormone blockers and testosterone shots before undergoing a double mastectomy at age 14 from the Kryger Institute for Plastic Surgery.
In December 2019, Dr. David Inwards-Breland, formerly the co-director of the hospital's clinic, wrote a research paper about how to provide "gender-affirming" surgery to minors without parental consent: "We discuss three potential avenues for providing gender-affirming care over parental disagreement: legal carve-outs to parental consent, the mature minor doctrine and state intervention for neglect."
"Sex-change" services offered:
- The hospital reportedly provides "comprehensive gender assessment[s]," surgical referrals, insurance advocacy, and “gender-affirming vocal therapy"
- The clinic says that gender dysphoria is "not a mental health problem"
- "Gender dysphoria is a medical condition in which there is deep emotional distress that occurs when one's assigned gender at birth and gender identity do not match. Being transgender, nonbinary or gender non-conforming is not a mental health problem. However, some transgender individuals have co-existing conditions, such as anxiety or depression."
- 49 total "sex-change" patients
- 2 surgery patients
- 47 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 402 prescriptions written
- $67,293 submitted charges
Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) runs the Gender Development Program, which works with "gender exploring, gender non-conforming, gender dysphoric, gender non-binary, transgender and gender-questioning young people" "on the gender spectrum," and the Gender and Autism Program, the only gender clinic in the country specializing in special needs children, specifically "autistic/neurodivergent gender-expansive youth."
To recap, Townhall previously investigated Children's National and its covert partnership with an LGBTQ non-profit on Capitol Hill.
Pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. John F. Strang ("flexible" pronouns), the director of the hospital's Gender and Autism Program, co-hosted woke parent workshops on "Intersections of Neurodivergence and Gender-Diversity" and "Gender-Affirming Puberty." During the latter lecture, Dr. Rebecca Wood Persky, a pediatric endocrinologist and the medical director of Gender Care Services at Children's National, advised parents to consider allowing their sons to go through puberty so that the pseudo-vaginas constructed from penile tissue ultimately have "enough depth for sexual intercourse."
Strang, an ardent proponent of the cause called "autistic Pride," has piloted research in the past on autistic "transgender" adolescents. In 2014, Strang published a study that found that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were more likely to exhibit "gender variance" than children with no neurodevelopmental disorder. Strang says he works to strengthen autistic youth's "self-advocacy" skills when it comes to expressing their "gender identity."
Townhall also highlighted how the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is pumping millions of tax dollars into a project, which Children's National is a part of, to study the "benefits" of puberty blockers. Children's National is actively recruiting "transgender" children to participate in the federally funded research study.
Children's National also operates the Youth Pride Clinic, which "provides primary and specialty care services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer (LGBTQ) patients throughout the greater Washington, D.C. region."
In a March 2023 letter to the hospital's ex-CEO Kurt Newman, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) expressed concerns that the Youth Pride Clinic does not mention the role of parental consent in its protocols and policies.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- The hospital provides puberty blockers, hormone therapy, psychological services, and "sex-change" surgeries for minors
- The clinic sees "children and adolescents of all ages"
- 10 total "sex-change" patients
- 0 surgery patients
- 10 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 40 prescriptions written
- $5,749 submitted charges
The UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, which is affiliated with the University of California San Francisco, provides "a full array of" "sex-change" treatments to children as young as three years old through the Child and Adolescent Gender Center (CAGC). These medical interventions include menstrual suppression, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy as well as surgical referrals to those 16 years of age and older.
Dr. Ivy Aslan, a physician at the clinic, said "We're buying them some time" by prescribing children puberty blockers, which the doctor called "reversible" and claimed "no side effects have been found."
"If you let puberty progress, those kids are going to get much worse," she said.
Dr. Herbert Schreier, a child psychiatrist at the hospital, said that in his experience, "not a single one" of the patients who opted for surgery regretted the decision.
The hospital also has a designated LGBTQ+ Committee. The members are not listed on the website.
In a 2017 article from the San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. Diane Ehrensaft, the mental health director at UCSF's Child and Adolescent Gender Clinic, said that not allowing children to live "as they are" bears an "uncomfortable resemblance to conversion therapy."
Ehrensaft pioneered a "Gender Affirmative Model" based on the belief that children who are "insistent, persistent, and consistent" in their gender expression should be able to socially transition, though she says kids can change their gender identity by the season and depending on location. Ehrensaft's "ascendant" model is spreading nationally.
She says there are "infinite" genders to choose from, and children can even identify as a "Tootsie Roll pop." According to Ehrensaft, other gender identities include "Protogay Children," "Gender Teslas," "Gender Ambidextrous Children," and "Gender Smoothies." There are also "gender hybrids" like the "gender Minotaur," Ehrensaft claims.
"Gender pathology lies more in the culture than in the child," according to Ehrensaft. Gender dysphoria is more so a measure of "development status and cognitive/emotional awareness" rather than a sign of psychological distress, she says.
"Sex-change" services offered:
As the hospital's site says, "We support children and their families through their social, medical, and/or surgical transition. If and when children and their families are ready to pursue medical therapies, we prescribe and manage puberty blockers, menstrual suppression, and gender affirming sex hormones. Puberty blockers are a fully reversible treatment that are sometimes used to allow young people time to achieve greater self-awareness of their gender identification while putting a ‘pause’ on their natal puberty and preventing the overt development of secondary sexual characteristics. We also participate in fertility counseling and refer to fertility preservation specialists if desired. Lastly, we are able to connect young adults, and occasionally older adolescents (16+) to gender-affirming surgeons."
- 120 total "sex-change" patients
- 13 surgery patients
- 108 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 860 prescriptions written
- $170,040 submitted charges
Children's Hospital Colorado, which is affiliated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, offers puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors through its gender clinic, the TRUE Center for Gender Diversity. TRUE stands for "trust, respect, understand, emerge." On average, the hospital prescribes 36 gender-related prescriptions per patient, Do No Harm says.
There is no minimum age for services currently listed on the clinic's website.
In 2023, the hospital system announced it would cease performing "sex-change" surgeries, though it will continue to offer non-surgical alternatives. The hospital had also previously offered hysterectomies to patients 18 and older.
In September 2018, Children’s Hospital Colorado tweeted that they were removing gender markers from patient wristbands and prescriptions.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- Puberty-delaying treatments
- Hormone therapy
- Behavioral health services
- Referrals
- 28 total "sex-change" patients
- 4 surgery patients
- 24 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 123 prescriptions written
- $5,850 submitted charges
UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, a hospital within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center system, offers "sex-change" treatments through its Gender and Sexual Development Program. The hospital claims on its site that "gender awareness can become apparent in children as young as two years of age." Other resources the hospital promotes include an infographic depicting a "Gender Unicorn" and handouts on binding, "packing," and "tucking."
Dr. Gerald Montano, the gender clinic's director, admitted that 10-year-olds can medically "transition" and that minors under the age of 18 could undergo "top surgery." He also has encouraged doctors to inform their patients of a "right to confidentiality" from others, including parents. Montano also appears to have indicated that in some scenarios, it may be beneficial for a patient to go through surgery at a younger age, citing little breast development as an example.
While discussing expanding "sex-change" options, Dr. Elizabeth Miller, founder of the Gender and Sexual Development Program, stated that "it's about social justice," per The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
In 2022, it was reported that the gender clinic had logged over 2,000 visits.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- 396 total "sex-change" patients
- 27 surgery patients
- 372 hormone and puberty blocker patients
- 3,551 prescriptions written
- $799,044 submitted charges
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center provides cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to minors through its Transgender Health Center. According to Do No Harm, the hospital is home to two doctors who are "the most prolific prescribers of hormones and puberty blockers to children in the country," with an average of 94 prescriptions per patient.
In 2018, Citizens For Community Values called on Ohio's Medical Board to investigate the director of Cincinnati Children's gender clinic based on testimony that all children seen by the clinic are deemed candidates for treatment, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Ohio currently bans gender-related medical interventions for children after a judge ruled on August 6 that the state statute outlawing these procedures can go into effect. Steve Davis, the hospital's president and CEO, testified against the legislation, known as House Bill 68, as it was under consideration.
"Sex-change" services offered:
- To start puberty blockers, "a child needs to have started puberty but not gone too far," the clinic says
- The Transgender Clinic, as part of the Transgender Health Center, offers "control of menstrual periods" and birth control
- It is also referred to as the "Living with Change Center"
- Patients are seen as young as five years old up to their 25th birthday
- The first visit typically consists of a physical examination in which the healthcare provider may speak to the patient alone, depending on the patient's age, and then conduct a psychosocial interview
Do No Harm's tool is meant to inform the public and record the prevalence of these egregious practices throughout the country. The advocacy organization hopes the repository will serve as a foundation for parents and policymakers to quantify the pervasiveness of so-called "pediatric gender medicine," hold medical professionals as well as the institutions that house them accountable, and lay the groundwork for legislative change to protect children from this so-called "care."
Many countries in Europe previously served as a playbook for America's now-prevalent "gender-affirming" ideology foisted upon children. However, as time has progressed, several of these nations have reversed course.
In March, the United Kingdom sent shockwaves around the world when its National Health Service announced that children will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, which Townhall covered.
In February, researchers at the Netherlands’ University of Groningen released a 15-year study, Development of Gender Non-Contentedness During Adolescence and Early Adulthood. This groundbreaking study tracked the "gender unhappiness" of 2,772 participants ages 11 through 26. The study found that most children who think they're "transgender" at a young age end up outgrowing it.
Last year, Dr. Rittakerttu Kaltiala, one of Finland's top experts on pediatric gender medicine, said in an interview that "four out of five" children who believe that their biological sex does not align with their gender identity will eventually grow out of their gender confusion in their teenage years. Kaltiala insinuated that young people are impressionable and that social contagion can lead to gender confusion.
"The young person tries out different identities and is prone to suggestion. In one situation he feels that he is one and in another another. It's normal in adolescence," she said, as Townhall covered. Kaltiala pushed back on the tactic where parents are "emotionally blackmailed" into letting their child "transition" by being told that their child will commit suicide otherwise.
"It is not justified to tell the parents of young people experiencing transgenderism that without corrective treatment the young person is at risk of suicide without corrective treatment and that the danger can be countered with gender reassignment treatment," she said, acknowledging a study that found that the psychological well-being of minors who underwent "gender intervention" treatments worsened as a result.