The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a peer-reviewed report that found medical procedures to alter a child’s biological sex pose serious long-term dangers to children as Democrats continue promoting transgender issues before the nation’s highest court.
“The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics peddled the lie that chemical and surgical sex-rejecting procedures could be good for children,” HHS chief Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a Wednesday press release. “They betrayed their oath to first do no harm, and their so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ has inflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people. That is not medicine — it’s malpractice.”
The report was released through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and found that operations working to reject a child’s biological sex — including the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical operations — “are significant, long term, and too often ignored or inadequately tracked.”
“What are we going to tell the young people who can’t have children because the medical profession stole that from them?” said Assistant Secretary for Health Brian Christine said. “Our report is an urgent wake-up call to doctors and parents about the clear dangers of trying to turn girls into boys and vice versa.”
BIDEN LEGACY INCLUDES RELENTLESS PUSH FOR TRANSGENDER AGENDA
The study was peer-reviewed and authored by nine medical doctors, PhD holders and others who have previously spoken out against the dangers surrounding children attempting to alter their biological sex. The authors included experts associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and other colleges and groups.
The November report was an update to HHS’ May report that reviewed the evidence and best practices for children with gender dysphoria, which was criticized by a handful of medical groups for not identifying the study’s authors and allegedly misrepresenting a medical consensus on the matter.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told Fox News Digital Thursday that for the updated report the agency invited “a diverse group of individuals and organizations to participate in the peer-review process,” including organizations, such as the American Psychiatric Association, that support youth medical procedures related to gender dysphoria.
He added that HHS also invited the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics to take part in the study’s review, but that the medical groups “declined HHS’ invitation to participate.”
CHILDREN’S NATIONAL HOSPITAL IN DC TO END GENDER TRANSITION MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS
Fox News Digital reached out to the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association Thursday morning but did not immediately receive replies.
The Endocrine Society sent Fox News Digital a lengthy response when approached for comment, which included that children using puberty-delaying medication or hormone therapy is “rare and reflects a cautious approach.”
“The widely accepted view of the professional 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 nonbinary 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 into the Biden administration.
Republican leaders at the state level in jurisdictions such as Florida and Arkansas worked to ban medical procedures for children under the age of 18, citing medical concern over such procedures and out of self-described effort to prevent children from making irreversible decisions before they exit high school.
Democrats have galvanized around the platform of protecting such medical procedures, citing endorsements of major medical associations such as the American Psychological Association for adopting policies supporting “affirming evidence-based care” for children who identify as trans and nonbinary as having positive impacts on kids and adults alike with gender dysphoria. Supporters of medical procedures aimed at altering a child’s sex argue preventing such medical care can lead to depression and anxiety, and even suicide.
The American Psychological Association reviewed the report and was included in its “Peer Reviews and Replies.” The medical group lamented that it “lacks sufficient transparency and clarity.”
“Our conclusions are 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 for its findings to be taken at face value,” the American Psychological Association wrote.
The Biden administration repeatedly elevated its support of the transgender community, including celebrating holidays championing the trans and LGBTQ+ communities at large, and pledging support to transgender individuals during each of then-President Biden’s State of the Union addresses.
Democrats have continued pushing to support transgender policies, including 130 Members of Congress filing an amicus brief at the Supreme Court for a pair of cases focused on transgender students playing on a school sports team opposite their biological sex.
One case the Supreme Court is weighing, West Virginia v. B.P.J., focuses on whether states can limit girls’ and women’s sports to biological females, and another case, Little v. Hecox, asks whether state laws restricting participation on girls and women’s sports to biological females violates the Equal Protection Clause.
“All students deserve equal access to opportunity in schools—whether in the classroom, on the playing field, or in other settings. No student should be discriminated against based on who they are,” Democratic Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono said in a press release of the amicus brief. “A categorical ban on transgender students participating in sports not only harms these students, but also subjects women and girls to harassment and discrimination, and leads to the policing of children’s bodies. This contradicts the very purpose of Title IX: ending discrimination in federally-funded education programs. These bans are blatant discrimination, and the Court should say so.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Hirono’s office for comment on HHS’ report but did not immediately receive a reply.
President Donald Trump and the Make America Healthy Commission he established earlier in 2025 have doubled down that there are only two biological sexes, including Trump signing an executive order declaring the U.S. only recognizes male and female sexes while also ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion program within the government.
”This report marks a turning point for American medicine,” said National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya said in the press release. ”The evidence in it meticulously documents the risks the profession has imposed on vulnerable children. At the NIH, we are committed to ensuring that science, not ideology, guides America’s medical research.”
