&Quot;Gender Affirming&Quot;

Do three North Carolina hospitals offer gender transitions to children as young as 2, 3 and 4 years old? No, that's not true: Social media posts have misrepresented what treatments are available to patients of various ages, insinuating that these North Carolina hospitals start gender transitions on children as young as 2. However, hormone therapies and gender-affirming surgery are not…

Does a bill passed by the Washington State Legislature allow the "government to take minor children away" from their parents if "they refuse to agree to gender transition surgery"? No, that's not true: The legislation has no provision for removing children from their parents if they don't agree to gender affirmation surgery. The statute deals specifically with children who have…

Does Children's Hospital of Philadelphia offer "gender-affirming" support, including surgical or hormonal procedures, directly to children as young as 3 years old? No, that's not true: The hospital's Gender and Sexuality Development Program offers "psychosocial and medical support for gender nonconforming, gender expansive and transgender children and youth up to age 21 and their families." However, in pre-pubescent children below…

Are 4-year-old children prescribed puberty blockers as part of gender-affirming care? No, that's not true: The American Academy of Pediatrics told Lead Stories this claim is "not accurate." Puberty blockers are only prescribed once an individual has started or is beginning to start puberty. Four-year-olds do not normally go through puberty. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) on…

Were mental health professionals at the Wisconsin Pride festival in August of 2022 "just handing out" letters declaring patients' readiness for gender affirmation surgery? No, that's not true: letters were not handed out. A photograph of a booth at the Magic Pride Festival in Madison offering free "Letters of Readiness," service is real. But, the letters were not handed out…

Does Boston Children's Hospital offer gender-affirming hysterectomies to children? No, that's not true: A resource from the hospital's Center for Gender Surgery states that only patients who are 18 years old and older can receive gender-affirming genital surgeries and the hospital released a statement stating that it would not perform a hysterectomy for gender-affirming care on any patient younger than…

Did a doctor prove that transgender girls have no performance advantage over cisgender girls in athletics? No, that's not true: Contrary to the claim in a British website's headline, medical researchers have documented trans women's performance advantage over cisgender women, although the advantage starts to shrink once trans women start taking hormones. There is no peer-reviewed study cited to support…