Close to 14,000 children underwent some form of so-called sex-change procedures between 2019 and 2023, according to a study from a new database tracking transgender children’s clinics.
This week, Do No Harm, a group comprised of medical professionals concerned about the political weaponization of the medical system, launched a data collection, Stop the Harm, which tracks “sex change treatments being performed on minors at healthcare facilities in the United States.”
The findings revealed that, from 2019 to 2023, at least 13,994 children underwent transgender-related procedures, costing some $119 million. Those procedures include puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and body-altering surgeries.
For example, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago served 145 transgender-related child patients, 39 of whom underwent surgical procedures. And Oregon’s Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center treated 267 transgender-related minor patients with 223 surgery patients.
In addition, Do No Harm released its “Dirty Dozen,” a list of “worst-offending children’s hospitals promoting sex change treatments for minors.”
“To select our list, we identified each hospital and pediatric facility offering sex change treatments and considered a combination of factors to determine the institution’s engagement in performing and promoting sex change treatments on minors,” the group stated.
“We considered legislative activism, such as explicit policy statements and/or testimony in favor of legislation, in addition to community activism, such as promoting sex change treatments among local schools and youth groups.”
It’s important to note the list is likely incomplete and could be undercounting the number of minor patients who underwent care for transgender-related issues.
Do No Harm performed its analysis using data from “commercial insurance providers, Medicaid, Medicare, and the Department of Veterans Affairs,” while noting it excluded data “internal Kaiser Permanente and internal Department of Veterans Affairs claims” as well as direct payments.
In the immediate aftermath of the organization releasing its findings, the leading press release distributor in the U.S., PRNewswire, refused to publish a news bulletin about the group’s latest findings.
