More than 200 hospitals provide irreversible transgender procedures to children, new database reveals

More than 200 hospitals and health care facilities provide irreversible transgender procedures to children, debunking left-wing claims that the treatments aren’t being done on minors.

Medical nonprofit watchdog Do No Harm launched a database Tuesday of 225 hospitals that provide sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and/or hormone therapies to children.

Do No Harm matched known gender-related transition codes with gender-related procedures and prescription codes to compile the database.

“The database provides conclusive proof that these interventions are happening on children across the country, both hormonal interventions and surgeries,” said Beth Serio, external relations manager at Do No Harm and a registered nurse. “We used bulletproof data from insurance claims databases to show that these procedures have been done on children.”

Nearly 14,000 American children underwent sex-change interventions of some type between 2019 and 2023, according to Do No Harm’s analysis of thousands of insurance claims at hospitals and pediatric facilities in the United States.

“It’s a common lie in the trans industry in America that these procedures are very highly reversible, that there’s no long-term effects,” Serio told The Daily Signal. “We know that’s simply not the case, especially for children who are taking the hormones for a longer period of time. Some of them can have a sterilizing effect on children, especially when taken for a lengthy period of time.”

Almost 6,000 children have undergone transgender surgeries, while 8,579 have been given hormones and puberty blockers.

“We only included data that we could stand behind 100%, based on [Do No Harm’s] analysis of insurance claims data,” Serio said. “We cannot account for things such as cash or self-pay patients, or a couple of insurance companies who don’t report to these databases. As staggering as these numbers are, we’re pretty confident that there are even more children than have been impacted by these barbaric treatments.”

Families have paid more than $119 million for their children to medically attempt to change genders, the database documents.

The database highlights the 12 worst-offending hospitals for transitioning children, starting with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP, as it refers to itself.

The hospital has treated 122 child sex-change patients. Five children are transgender surgery patients, while 117 are on hormone-replacement regimens and puberty blockers. It has written 768 “gender-affirming care” prescriptions, totaling $230,784 in submitted charges.

CHOP provides “comprehensive gender assessment, gender-affirming medical care, support groups, referrals for outpatient therapy, surgical referrals,” and more, according to its website.

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

“Some children and youth identify their gender as different from the sex they were assigned at birth,” the website for the hospital, which serving patients under 21, says. “Affirming your child’s gender identity and allowing them to explore their gender and sexuality is crucial for their well-being and resilience.”

But research has found that so-called gender-affirming care actually increases the likelihood that youths will attempt suicide. According to one April study, “Gender-affirming surgery is significantly associated with elevated suicide-attempt risks, underlining the necessity for comprehensive post-procedure psychiatric support.”

Minors who received transgender procedures have increasingly been detransitioning after regretting taking hormones and/or having healthy body parts surgically removed. Chloe Cole started identifying as a boy at 12 years old and went under the knife at just 15, only to regret it a few months later. She is now 20.

Like many other detransitioners, having a surgeon remove her breasts failed to address Cole’s underlying struggles with anxiety, depression, and undiagnosed autism.

Hospitals in Connecticut, Minnesota, Washington state, California, Massachusetts, and Ohio are also on Do No Harm’s list of worst offenders.

“There’s a lot of studies and research that show that many of these children have comorbidities with different mental health illnesses, and we know that medicalizing does not decrease the incidence of mental health problems. Instead, it increases, typically, the mental health problems that they have,” Serio said. “So, we really have to ask ourselves: ‘Why are we doing it?’”

“It’s not even, to me, so much about ‘What are the risks?’ There are only risks,” she continued. “But what are the benefits? Why would anyone choose or recommend these drugs to children?”

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

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