Report shows about 14,000 U.S. minors got so-called sex change treatments in four-year period

Editor’s note: The headline has been adjusted to reflect that 14,000 U.S. minors, not 62,000, received so-called sex-change treatments during the four-year period examined by the study. The number 62,000 reflects the approximate total of hormone and puberty blocker prescriptions written for minors during the same period. This was an error introduced by a copy editor and WORLD regrets the error.

Watchdog database Stop the Harm reported that just under $120 million in medical expenses were submitted to insurance companies for treatments designed to hide a minor’s gender characteristics in the United States between 2019 and 2023. The database, launched by the medical advocacy group Do No Harm, reported about 14,000 minors receiving such treatments within the four-year period. About 8,500 minors received hormone blockers and more than 5,500 minors underwent actual surgeries to hide their gender characteristics, the database reported. In total, more than 62,000 hormone and puberty blocker prescriptions were written for minors during the period. These children are being taken advantage of with no means of intervention, The Family Research Council’s Family Studies Center Director Jennifer Bauwens said in an interview with The Washington Stand. There’s no insurance to cover the de-transition process or all the trauma caused by a so-called caring medical community, she added.

Where did this data come from? Do No Harm says it based its findings on data from insurance claims of children's hospitals in states that allow so-called gender transition procedures on children. The organization was able to then use the data to catalog and report which healthcare facilities performed what procedures on minors and when. The group says it also examined insurance data from hospitals in states with age limits on such procedures for minors and non-pediatric health centers. Additionally, analysts identified the top 12 hospitals that offer and promote such procedures to minors, referring to those hospitals as “the Dirty Dozen.”

Who made the list of the 12 worst offending institutions? The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia made top billing on the group’s list, followed by the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, and the Children's Minnesota Hospital. The other institutions were all scattered across the east and west coastlines, in states like California, Massachusetts, Washington, etc.

How could the group accurately name the 12 worst offending institutions? The group considered a variety of factors when choosing which hospitals they felt performed the most harm on children. Analysts looked at criteria like the number of child patients receiving so-called gender transition procedures within the four-year period, the range of procedures offered, and the hospital’s advertisement of such procedures.

How have institutions responded? WORLD has reached out to some of the institutions named in this report. As of Thursday afternoon, they had not responded to our queries. This story will be updated as it develops.

Dig deeper: Read Juliana Chan Erikson and Lauren Canterberry’s report on recently leaked intel showing confusion in ranks of gender medicine.