While many states have banned gender procedures for kids, Texas is going a step further, launching the nation’s first detransition clinic.
When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Texas Children’s Hospital and a Dallas-area doctor in February, he accused them of illegally transitioning minors and using Medicaid funds to cover the procedures. Now, a settlement requires the hospital to establish America’s first detransition clinic, offering five years of free, hospital-funded care for children recovering from gender procedures. The hospital also agreed to permanently revoke the privileges of five doctors who carried out the surgeries and never rehire or credential them. The clinic must open by the end of October.
In other words, Texas Children’s Hospital is now being forced to heal the hurt children. Other states should follow Texas’ lead, pairing bans on transgender procedures for minors with specialized care for detransitioners.
Texas Children’s Hospital first drew national scrutiny in 2023 when whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim exposed internal records showing the hospital had continued dangerous gender procedures on children despite publicly claiming it would pause the program. At the time, Paxton had defined the practice as “child abuse” under state law.
Soon after the revelations, Texas passed Senate Bill 14, which bans health care providers from using puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender procedures on minors. Paxton also investigated Texas Children’s Hospital.
Andrew Mahaleris, Gov. Greg Abbott’s press secretary, said the governor was proud to sign the law protecting kids from gender mutilation.
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“These procedures are madness, and Texas treats them as such,” Mahaleris told the Daily Signal. “The new detransition clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital is the first in the nation and holds institutions accountable as a model for other states. Texas puts the health and safety of its kids first.”
While the new detransition clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital is a win for kids, it is a major loss for leftists. Karen Loewy, senior counsel at LGBTQ+ activist group Lambda Legal, criticized the hospital for punishing the doctors involved and giving in to what she called “relentless pressure campaigns” from Paxton and the Trump administration. This echoes the sentiment of those who support surgeries for children in the name of “gender-affirming care.”
But the story of Soren Aldaco, a Texas resident, shows the real consequences of gender procedures on kids.
As a teenager, Aldaco fell into gender dysphoria. She said counselors and doctors encouraged hormones and therapy, pressuring her to pursue a medical transition.
After a therapist recommended a double mastectomy, she went through the surgery at age 19. This left her with severe complications, including immense pain and blood pooling around her chest wounds, according to court records.
Ultimately, despite the empty promises of her doctors and therapist, Aldaco regretted the life-altering surgery. She attributed her struggles with gender to difficult teenage years and outside influences. Alcado detransitioned, and eventually sued her former therapist for medical negligence.
This story has become all too familiar among American youth. Chloe Cole, who began transitioning at age 12, is just one of many detransitioners who have stepped up to advocate for kids.
Beyond Texas, 25 other states have restricted transgender procedures for minors, signaling growing concern among lawmakers about their potential harms and laying the groundwork for more states to establish detransition clinics. Even blue states have increasingly stopped providing transgender-related treatments to minors amid pressure from the Trump administration.
Puberty often brings confusion and discomfort. But instead of helping kids navigate those changes in the healthy way, hospitals and doctors took advantage of them—assuring that they were born in the wrong body, and that “changing” genders would solve their problems.
For that reason, other states that have banned gender procedures on minors must follow Texas’ lead. Simply banning further abuse is not enough. True justice requires restitution and healing for the lives ruined by lies.
The settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital is poetic justice—and it should be just the beginning.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.
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