HHS report finds transgender medical procedures pose dangers to children

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a peer-reviewed report that found the following medical procedures Changing a child’s biological sex poses serious long-term risks to children as Democrats continue to champion transgender issues in the highest court in the land.

“The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics spread the lie that chemical and surgical sexual denial procedures could be good for children,” HHS chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a news release Wednesday. “They have broken their oath to initially do no harm, and their so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ has caused lasting physical and psychological harm to vulnerable young people. This is not medicine – this is malpractice.”

The report was released by the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and found that operations aimed at rejecting a child’s biological sex – including the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, etc surgical procedures – “are significant, long-term and are all too often ignored or inadequately pursued.”

“What should we say to the young people who can’t have children because the medical profession has stolen it from them?” said Deputy Health Minister Brian Christine. “Our report is an urgent wake-up call to doctors and parents and highlights the dangers of trying to turn girls into boys and vice versa.”

Biden’s legacy includes a tireless push for the transgender agenda

The study was peer-reviewed and written by nine physicians, graduate students and others who had previously spoken out against the dangers involved Children try to change their biological sex. Authors included experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and other schools and groups.

The November report was an update to the May HHS report that reviewed the evidence and best practices for children with gender dysphoria. Some medical groups criticized the report for failing to identify the study’s authors and for allegedly misrepresenting a medical consensus on the issue.

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the agency invited “a diverse group of individuals and organizations to participate in the peer review process” for the updated report, including organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association that support adolescent medical procedures related to gender dysphoria.

He added that HHS also invited the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics to participate in the study’s review, but that the medical groups “declined HHS’s invitation to participate.”

CHILDREN’S NATIONAL HOSPITAL IN D.C. TO END MEDICAL INTERVENTION IN GENDER TRANSITION

Fox News Digital reached out to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association on Thursday morning but did not immediately receive responses.

The Endocrine Society sent Fox News Digital a detailed response when asked for comment. It said children taking puberty-delaying drugs or hormone therapy “are rare and reflect a cautious approach.”

“The widely accepted view of the medical community is that medical treatment is appropriate for transgender and gender diverse teenagers who experience persistent feelings of gender dysphoria. Medical studies show that access to this care improves the well-being of transgender and non-binary people,” the statement continued.

Democrats have celebrated so-called “gender-affirming care” for children in recent years, with transgender issues becoming a political football under the first Trump administration and in the Biden administration.

Republican leaders at the state level in jurisdictions such as Florida and Arkansas worked to ban medical procedures for children under 18, on the grounds that such procedures were medically worrisome and out of their own effort to prevent children from making irreversible decisions before they leave high school.

Democrats have pushed to protect such medical procedures, citing the support of major medical associations such as the American Psychological Association, which have adopted guidelines that support “affirmation of evidence-based care” for children who identify as trans and non-binary and have positive impacts for children and adults with gender dysphoria. Proponents of medical interventions aimed at changing a child’s gender argue that preventing such medical care can lead to depression and anxiety and even suicide.

The American Psychological Association reviewed the report and included it in its Peer Reviews and Replies. The doctors’ group complained that there was a “lack of sufficient transparency and clarity.”

“Our conclusion is that while the HHS report purports to be a thorough, evidence-based assessment of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, its underlying methodology lacks sufficient transparency and clarity to accept its findings at face value,” the American Psychological Association wrote.

The Biden administration repeatedly reiterated its support for the transgender community, including by celebrating holidays that support the trans and LGBTQ+ communities at large and pledging support for transgender people in each of then-President Biden’s State of the Union addresses.

Democrats continue to push for support for transgender policies. For example, 130 members of Congress filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in two cases involving transgender students playing on a school sports team with the opposite sex.

One case the Supreme Court is currently considering, West Virginia v. BPJ, asks whether states can restrict girls’ and women’s sports to biological females, and another case, Little v. Hecox, asks whether state laws restricting participation in girls’ and women’s sports to biological females violate the Equal Protection Clause.

HHS YOUTH GENDER CARE REPORT AUTHORS DEFEND THE RESULTS UNDER ACTIONS OF MEDICAL ORGANIZATIONS AND PRECAUTIONARY RISKS

“All students deserve equal access to opportunities in school – be it in the classroom, on the playing field or in other environments. No student should be discriminated against because of their identity,” Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono said in a statement Press release of the amicus brief. “A categorical ban on transgender students’ participation in sports not only harms those students, but also exposes women and girls to harassment and discrimination and leads to the policing of children’s bodies. This defeats the very purpose of Title IX: to end discrimination in federally funded education programs. These bans are blatant discrimination, and that is what the court should say.”

Fox News Digital contacted Hirono’s office for comment on the HHS report but did not immediately receive a response.

president Donald Trump and the Make America Healthy Commission, which he launched in early 2025, have reaffirmed that there are only two biological genders, including Trump’s signing of an executive order stating that the U.S. will recognize only male and female genders while ending the “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion program within the government.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“This report represents a turning point for American medicine,” Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said in the press release. “The evidence contained therein meticulously documents the risks the profession poses to vulnerable children. At NIH, we are committed to ensuring that America’s medical research is guided by science, not ideology.”