Therapy, Not Hormones, for Gender-Confused Children

A comprehensive report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urges medical professionals to prioritize behavioral therapy over medical transitions when treating minors with gender dysphoria.

As The New York Post reported, the 409-page review was conducted under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in January and represents one of the most extensive federal evaluations of transgender medical practices to date.

The report concluded that there is “very low” overall quality of evidence to support common gender transition interventions—such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries—for minors.

Trump’s Sovereign Wealth Fund: What Could It Mean For Your Money?

“This indicates that the beneficial effects reported in the literature are likely to differ substantially from the true effects of the interventions,” the report states.

The HHS study, titled “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices,” evaluated 17 systematic reviews related to youth transition treatments.

Researchers found that many widely adopted medical protocols were implemented before reliable outcome studies were available to validate their safety or long-term effectiveness.

The review did not serve as a clinical guideline but identified major concerns with the methodological foundation of key studies that underpinned treatment practices, including the Dutch Protocol—a highly influential guideline published in 2006.

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

The report stated that the Dutch study’s small, non-randomized sample and selection bias toward positive outcomes limited “the generalizability of the study’s findings.”

In addition to citing flaws in U.S.-based studies, the HHS report repeatedly referenced the United Kingdom’s Cass Review—a National Health Service investigation that raised similar concerns about the robustness of transgender medical research and led to the scaling back of gender clinics in Britain.

While acknowledging the limited direct evidence for psychotherapy in treating gender dysphoria, HHS researchers noted there is strong support for its use in treating related mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

The report emphasized the growing international concern over pediatric gender transition and the absence of any global consensus on best practices.

Image Credit: Jilll Richardson – Shutterstock.com

“There is currently no international consensus about best practices for the care of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria,” the report said.

NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, whose agency contributed to the review, emphasized that medical decisions must remain grounded in evidence, not ideology.

“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children—not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions.”

Trump’s executive order that initiated the review also included provisions to restrict federal funding for child sex-change procedures.

The report’s findings were welcomed by groups such as Do No Harm.

Its chairman, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, said the study “exposes a number of serious risks in the medical transition of young people” and called for a halt to such treatments in favor of evidence-based mental health care.

However, critics, including American Academy of Pediatrics President Susan Kressly, pushed back, arguing the study relied on a “narrow set of data” and misrepresented the medical community’s current consensus.

The full HHS report is now set to undergo peer review, with a modified version expected upon its completion.

Connect with Vetted Off-Duty Cops to Instantly Fulfill Your Security Needs

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LifeZette. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.