Detransitioners reveal how doctors pushed them toward life-altering treatment as teens
A US Department of Health and Human Services report has featured the testimonies of three detransitioners who say they were pressured by doctors and hospitals to pursue gender transition treatment while they were minors. The report, titled "Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of 'Gender Medicine'", also alleges that financial incentives encouraged clinicians to provide such treatments and flags insurance billing practices it says may warrant further scrutiny.
Clementine Breen began puberty blockers at 12, testosterone at 13 and underwent a double mastectomy at 14, after doctors reportedly told her parents she was "100% trans" and at high risk of suicide without treatment; she later stopped testosterone at 18, linking her earlier distress to unresolved trauma from sexual abuse. Soren Aldaco was prescribed testosterone by multiple specialists before a double mastectomy that led to severe complications, with the report noting a lack of structured reassessment despite negative outcomes. Luke Healy, who first encountered online transgender communities aged 10 and began identifying as a girl within three years, said his parents were the only people who seriously questioned the underlying causes of his distress.
- HHS report features three detransitioners' accounts of pressure into gender treatment as minors
- Report alleges financial incentives and improper billing practices in "gender medicine"
- All three describe medical or surgical interventions as teenagers followed by lasting harm
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Gender-related healthcare for young people can include counselling, puberty blockers, hormone treatment and, less commonly, surgery. Decisions are usually made by families, patients and medical specialists, but the approach and rules vary between US states and healthcare providers.
People who later stop or reverse some aspects of a gender transition are often called detransitioners. Their experiences are part of a wider US debate over how doctors should assess young patients, explain possible benefits and risks, and obtain informed consent before treatment.