In the gender medicine world, so-called "experts" say there is consensus in support of the prolific use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. But on March 4, leaked messages from a meeting and discussion forum of members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) revealed a different picture.
Behind the facade of consensus is a fractured industry conducting experiments on the young that can lead to permanent sterilization (but revenue for the practitioners). Many health professionals around the world rely on WPATH's "standards of care." The leaks confirm a massive scandal in the gender industry: many doctors prescribe hormones and perform surgeries on minors and vulnerable adults who are already beset with serious mental health issues while patients and parents don't fully understand the risks and consequences.
One surgeon acknowledged performing "about 20 vaginoplasties in patients under 18." To be fair, the surgeon does suggest discouraging the procedure before 17—but only because these minors are less likely to complete follow-up care when they're off to college.
The messages also reveal a concerning dismissiveness among practitioners toward serious pre-existing mental health issues of people with gender dysphoria. One practitioner reported internal conflict on what to do after a psychiatrist recommended waiting on cross-sex hormones for a patient with dissociations, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizoid tendencies, and depression.
Others on the thread disregarded the psychiatrist's concerns and explain that there's likely no reason to wait to begin hormones. One practitioner claimed that "in general, mental illness is not a reason" to postpone gender surgeries. Another even boasted about clearing every single person seeking surgery except one, who "hallucinated during the assessment session."
This is a travesty of both medicine and science.
The WPATH files also show that people who have gender dysphoria often have other pre-existing mental health issues. One member noted a "high incidence of dissociative disorders amongst the community," while others described dealing with numerous people with dissociative disorders. They discussed "[two] such folks who after several years on hormones felt their decision to start hormones was colored by trauma and [dissociative identity disorder] and now, after more therapy and understanding, wish they had dug deeper before starting hormones."
It's clear that practitioners know there are major problems with both the informed-consent process generally in their field and, in particular, minors' capacity to consent to such hormones and surgeries. They wonder whether they often meet parents and children who don't understand what they're getting into.
A coauthor of the WPATH "standards of care" stated of children that it's "out of their developmental range sometimes to understand the extent to which some of these medical interventions are impacting them." WPATH's internal communications recognize what common sense and real science show everyone: kids lack the capacity to fully understand these life-changing interventions on their bodies and therefore cannot consent to them.
Informed consent is a fiction in the gender industry. And it's no wonder gender is hard to talk about, since the space is filled with activists making unfounded claims about suicide. Chloe Cole's parents were asked if they'd rather have a dead daughter or living son before Chloe was put on cross-sex hormones at age 13. Such manipulation is used to push vulnerable patients and their families toward experimentation that has not been shown to actually decrease suicide.
Messages on the WPATH forum repeatedly downplay the regrets of de-transitioners. They discussed "reframing" de-transitioners' stories, as if each step related to transition is benign—even those that include cutting off healthy body parts.
Children struggling with mental health issues and gender dysphoria deserve compassionate, effective, evidence-based health care. But too many are being pushed by their doctors in a direction—altering their bodies—for which there is no evidence of long-term benefits.
Many de-transitioners testify that they were not given essential information and that the medical industry led them astray. The medical profession cannot pretend to be unaware of this failure and continue the narrative of "transition or suicide" when even the "experts" recognize that children giving informed consent to these procedures is a farce.
Finland stopped following WPATH's lead in 2020 and instituted more cautious guidelines to protect children. Sweden and the United Kingdom did the same in 2022. All other governments, and the World Health Organization, should similarly abandon WPATH's experimental standards.
Every state in America should protect citizens by regulating the medical profession when it sends minors into the operating room to be irreversibly harmed. Twenty-three states have already taken the initiative and passed laws protecting children from this kind of malpractice. More should follow their lead and prevent doctors from endangering minors. After all, they are children, not guinea pigs.
Emilie Kao is senior counsel and vice president of advocacy strategy with Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal), and Kathryn Homoki is an ADF communications integrity specialist.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
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