Texas Children’s Hospital to open detransition clinic this fall

Texas Children’s Hospital has three months to create and open the first-ever detransition clinic, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday. His office finalized a legal settlement with the hospital, ensuring it will establish a clinic for reversing genital surgery and other interventions that altered people’s sexual characteristics. The hospital must provide care free of charge for the first five years to any patient who previously received gender-altering procedures. That free care does not seem limited to the hospital’s former patients, according to the text of the settlement and a news release from Paxton’s office.

Paxton called the historic settlement a resounding defeat of radical gender ideology that has preyed on children. He first announced the settlement in May.

The Texas Children’s Hospital confirmed finalizing the settlement. The hospital was focusing its resources on life-saving care and discoveries, and the future health of children and women across Texas and the world, it said in a statement to WORLD.

What else does the settlement require? The hospital will pay $10 million to resolve state and federal Medicaid fraud claims. Both the state and the U.S. Department of Justice investigated the hospital over allegations that it illegally used state funding to provide gender transition procedures for minors. Additionally, the hospital will delete a previous statement that denied any wrongdoing in the case. The hospital also agreed to fire and revoke the credentials of five doctors involved in transgender procedures.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Black’s report about detransitioners struggling to find medical care that treats their complex medical needs.