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Stanford Medicine at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto, CA
Stanford Medicine will no longer provide gender-affirming surgeries to patients under the age of 19 after facing threats from the Trump Administration.
“After careful review of the latest actions and directives from the federal government and following consultations with clinical leadership, including our multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ program and its providers, Stanford Medicine paused providing gender-related surgical procedures as part of our comprehensive range of medical services for LGBTQ+ patients under the age of 19, effective June 2,” Stanford Medicine told The Los Angeles Times.
“We took this step to protect both our providers and patients. This was not a decision we made lightly, especially knowing how deeply this impacts the individuals and families who depend on our essential care and support," it continued.
Gender-affirming surgeries among minors are incredibly rare. There is no evidence of surgeries being performed on trans youth under the age of 12, according to a recent study in JAMA, and only 2.1 out of every 100,000 trans youth ages 15 to 17 received surgery — the vast majority being chest surgeries. Out of 151 breast reductions performed on American minors in 2019, 146 (97 percent) were performed on cisgender males.
Gender-affirming care for prepubescent youth primarily focuses on socially transitioning — changing their hair, clothing, or potentially going by a new name and pronouns. Only after many months being evaluated in talk therapy could a pubescent child demonstrating gender dysphoria be prescribed puberty blockers. When the patient is old enough, usually ages 16 to 17 per Planned Parenthood, they can then be prescribed hormones to replace those produced by their body.
Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to ban gender-affirming care for people under 19 shortly after taking office. A federal judge blocked the order in February, finding that it is likely unconstitutional. While the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for youth, the ruling does not interfere with states that have not criminalized the care.
Not only is gender-affirming care legal for minors in California, but the state became a sanctuary for the treatment following Gov. Gavin Newsom's signing of SB 107 in 2022. The law prohibits states that have banned the life-saving care from punishing those who travel to California to receive it through preventing the release of information or the arrest and extradition of someone based on another state's court orders.
