U.S. hospitals made nearly $120 million from inflicting sex-change procedures on an estimated 14,000 minors between 2019 and 2023. The stunning profit pulled in by American healthcare providers was revealed through recent data compiled by Do No Harm. The group’s database indicates that 5,747 minors underwent surgical gender reassignment, while 8,579 received puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.
The Do No Harm data contradicts claims by some medical professionals that sex-change procedures performed on minors are exceptionally rare. Notably, the database only draws from insurance claims filed across all states, so it likely underestimates the total number of procedures performed on minors. Hospital costs covered by self-pay, charity payments, internal Veterans Affairs claims, and patients under Kaiser Health Plans were excluded from the data.
According to the Do No Harm data set, a group of hospitals stand out as engaging in a high number of child sex-change procedures. Leading the list is the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), which pushed procedures on 122 minors, costing $230,784 from 2019 to 2023. CHOP has engaged with local Pennsylvania school districts, training staff to support student gender transitions.
Regionally, the states of California, New York, Washington, and Ohio are identified as having over 1,000 children each undergoing sex-change procedures, with California alone accounting for 2,024 cases and $28.9 million in charges.
Meanwhile, recently unsealed documents from a legal case in Alabama challenged the evidence basis for standards by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), revealing internal debates over their guidelines. Additionally, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has expressed opposition to surgeries for minors.
Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on a legal challenge to a Tennessee law prohibiting such medical interventions for minors.
