In response to public outrage, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has taken down several blog entries and videos related to gender changes in children, including permanent surgical procedures. The hospital, which operates a gender clinic, removed these resources from their website after receiving threats in October 2022. The move follows the hospital’s decision to tighten security measures after some of its training videos on children’s gender transitions went viral earlier that month.
The CHOP Gender and Sexuality Development Program previously provided resources on their website, such as videos that advocated for cross-sex medical treatments for children and urged school workers to conceal children’s gender identities from their families. However, these resources are now archived online, and their links redirect to heavily altered pages with certain links removed.
Additionally, internet archives reveal that CHOP’s yearly reports on medicine, outreach, and advocacy were publicly accessible in June 2022, but by January 2023, individuals had to request them via email. The clinic also recruited a social worker to help children have “gender-affirming” procedures by collecting testimonials of support and obtaining insurance coverage.
CHOP’s decision to remove these resources comes after several other medical institutions faced criticism for their handling of gender-related issues. The Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago faced backlash for advertising an “LGBTQ sex shop for teens” that offered sexually explicit products. In Boston, a minor’s facility conducted several gender-affirming mastectomies on children, which led to a bomb threat.
In response to these incidents, de-transitioners and supporters met in Sacramento, California, on De-trans Awareness Day to voice their solidarity with those who claim to have been damaged beyond repair by the gender business. Among them is Prisha Mosley, who took male hormones as a child and underwent a double mastectomy at age 18. Now 25, Mosley describes herself as a “medical monster” due to the severe vaginal shrinkage that resulted from her treatment.
Mosley’s experience highlights the potential consequences of irreversible medical procedures on children, similar to the effects of female genital mutilation (FGM). She is unsure whether she will ever be able to have biological children due to the surgical transformation she underwent.
