Like other children’s hospitals in the United States, Seattle Children’s Hospital has greased the skids for children to obtain cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and gender-reassignment surgery, even when their parents object, according to hospital documents unearthed by the Daily Caller.
The documents — which use and encourage the use of the favored terminology of transgender activists, such as “gender-affirming care,” “assigned male [or female] at birth,” and “people who menstruate” — encourage healthcare providers to direct kids down the transgenderism path without so much as a single mental-health screening. In fact, they suggest that the only kids who need mental-health services are those not interested in the hospital’s experimental, life- and health-altering procedures.
“The most damning aspect of these documents is the repeated assertion that the gender clinic does not provide mental health services,” Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, former associate dean for curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The notion that these children, who are often depressed, anxious, and even autistic, are not provided with those services in a way that is closely linked with the activities of the gender clinic is appalling.”
Indeed, as the Daily Caller points out, “Children with autism are vastly overrepresented in the population of transgender-identified youth, and mental health problems including anxiety and depression are common among this demographic.”
An algorithm for physicians to determine whether a minor with gender dysphoria should undergo “gender-affirming care,” for example, simply asks if the patient is “interested” in any such interventions. If so, and if the patient has begun puberty, the doctor is asked to refer the patient to the hospital’s gender clinic. “If the patient is interested but parents are unsure about medical care (or if patient and parents are unsure),” the document instructs the doctor to treat the patient as if he desires such treatment and to “consider discussing menstrual suppression if appropriate.” Finally, if the patient and/or parents still decline to pursue the recommended treatment options, the doctor is to suggest “non-medical options for gender affirmation” (such as chest-binding and testicle-tucking) and to “screen for depression, anxiety, and suicidality, and refer to a mental health therapist if there are any concerns, or for continued gender exploration.”
“Please note: Gender Clinic does not provide long-term mental health therapy,” the document adds in bold print.
Similarly, “Algorithm: Menstrual Suppression for Gender Diverse Youth” merely concerns itself with whether the patient has started menstruating and wants to stop before recommending putting her on menstrual-suppression drugs — and then trying to direct her to the gender clinic for “gender-affirming hormones.” If the patient is not interested in either, the doctor is, again, to suggest non-medical options and to “consider referral to a mental-health therapist.”
“These algorithms are designed to save clinic time, so that only patients that are eager for so-called gender affirming care will appear at the clinic. They represent pathways for primary care physicians to begin patients down this pathway[;] no place in this set of algorithms is there room for … mental health assessment of the patient,” said Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, an organization dedicated to rescuing healthcare from the “woke” medical establishment.
Seattle Children’s Hospital pushes these types of interventions despite the fact that its guides for patients and families state plainly that the medical effects and safety of such interventions “are not fully understood” and that they may entail unknown long-term risks. In addition, they list a substantial number of known risks. Puberty blockers can lower bone density and could affect fertility if the patient subsequently goes on cross-sex hormones. Feminizing hormones can increase the risk of blood clots, diabetes, heart disease, gallstones, high blood pressure, prolactinoma (a pituitary affliction that can cause headaches and vision damage), breast cancer, kidney problems, migraines, and skin rash. Masculinizing hormones carry similar risks. And that’s not all: The hospital also warns of the “social risks” of undergoing gender transformations in a “transphobic society.”
Beyond that, the hospital provides templates for healthcare providers to support patients’ entry into “gender-affirming care,” including surgery, and links to numerous pro-transgenderism websites.
None of this should come as a great shock. Seattle Children’s was caught last year advertising its “Surgical Gender Affirmation Program for Youth and Adults.” Furthermore, reported the Daily Caller:
The hospital also conspired with University of Washington (UW) to cover their tracks in the summer of 2022 after falsely claiming their study had found that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones improved mental health for transgender youths. Researchers had claimed their study found hormonal treatments were linked to improved mental health for trans youth, but those in the study who took puberty blockers and hormones saw no significant difference in depression and suicide risk.
Staff acknowledged internally that their initial press release was inaccurate, but spokespeople from both institutions agreed not to correct inaccurate news articles based on it and to ignore questions from outlets they characterized as conservative, … internal emails revealed.
Parents who are concerned about their children’s mental and physical health would be well-advised to avoid doctors and hospitals whose practices they have not thoroughly investigated first. As columnist Michelle Malkin observed, “It’s time for nuclear families to go nuclear on their enemies. That’s not a call to violence, but a call to protect your children’s minds, hearts, bodies and souls from those who seek to obliterate our identity, bonds and God-given rights.”
