From an extremely rare condition to a suspected social contagion – there are fears growing for the wellbeing of thousands of children who access ‘gender affirming care’ at facilities across America. They do so at an age considered too young to make life-altering decisions, let alone choices that will leave them infertile and unrecognisable.

While debate rages about the merits of what some call ‘care’, there is no denying gender confusion, subsequent transition, and the patients involved have become a lucrative industry for hospitals in America. An industry that is on an upward profit trajectory .

There are many valid reasons why a vulnerable child might feel uncomfortable about their changing body, but there are far fewer ‘good’ reasons for adults and industry experts to cultivate those feelings and radicalise them into extreme procedures that risk leaving that child a slave of the medical industry – a subscription customer trapped on a drip of drugs and corrective surgeries.

Stop The Harm has created a database featuring American hospitals and data related to gender treatments. People can explore the nation to see if their local hospital performs ‘gender affirming care’ on minors.

The interactive map on the front page automatically highlights states that have the highest number of hospitals engaged in this practice which, we must point out, remains perfectly legal.

It is a user-friendly experience specifically designed to raise awareness.

If we take California as the example, the website tells you how many patients have been treated so far, of those how many had a surgical procedure or used hormone blockers, and the total cost. This is then broken down by hospital.

Remember, these are children – not adults.

The project is upfront about its goals:

The Stop the Harm Database catalogues sex change treatments performed on minors throughout healthcare facilities in the United States. Do No Harm profiled children’s hospitals in states still allowing sex change treatments on minors, examining their advertised services to determine which medical interventions they provide. Do No Harm analysed insurance claims data to properly assess which sex change procedures each hospital and healthcare facility administered to minors. We also reviewed claims data at children’s hospitals in states that have passed legislation with age limits on sex change treatments for minors and non-paediatric hospitals and healthcare facilities. Through this tool, Do No Harm is informing the public and shedding light on how prevalent these practices really are.

Also featured prominently on the site is a ‘name and shame’ list of what they dub ‘The Dirty Dozen’ based on a subjective set of guidelines.

With information comes knowledge and with knowledge comes horror.

Stop The Harm claims that between 2019 and 2023, 13,994 minors had a sex change treatment of some kind performed on them. Of those, 5,747 were sex-change surgeries. 8,579 were the recipients of hormones and puberty blockers while the huge industry of sex-change prescriptions clocked 62,682 for minors.

The total value of the permanent surgical and chemical interference with a child’s gender has come in at $119,791,202.

‘We’ve really been meticulous in trying to make sure that the data are as clear as possible and are as accurate as possible.’ – Chairman of Do no Harm, Dr Stanley Goldfarb.

Groups who have been active in the protection of children were not surprised by the sheer scale of the industry.

‘Remember when we were told that minors weren’t receiving surgeries?’ wrote online activist group, Gays Against Groomers.

Do No Harm adds, ‘Over 90 per cent of children with gender dysphoria will grow out of that belief during their adolescent and young adult years. Almost 14,000 children throughout the United States were not given that option. It is time to #StopTheHarm.’

There remains an enormous amount of anger and confusion within the community about why children are being permitted by figures of authority to undergo treatments that lead to disfigurement, infertility, and life-long dependency on prescription drugs. A minor cannot possibly make a call of that magnitude.

There is a major linguistic discrepancy of opinion, with some calling a growing body of laws against these surgeries ‘anti-trans’ (as if they were discriminatory), while the majority of the population continues to classify these policies as ‘child protection’.

Do these ‘gender affirmation’ treatments cause harm?

Are they irreversible?

Should the medical machine be allowed to incentivise and profit from children in this manner?

Calling these procedures ‘medical care’ makes it more difficult to argue against its use on minors. It is almost as if it is being presented as plaster for a broken bone. Slowly, the language is being taken back by child protection activists who insist that this is not gender affirmation, but the mutilation of sexual organs on individuals who are too young to make these decisions.

Language has been used to ‘soften’ public perception of these surgeries. ‘Top surgery’ is the removal of a child’s undeveloped breasts. ‘Bottom surgery’ is a horrifically invasive and risky surgery to cut away and then rebuild non-functioning organs that mimic the opposing sex. De-transitioners are increasingly sharing their stories of trauma relating to this procedure which, if it goes wrong, has been known to make life unbearable for young people who were already struggling with their mental health. Many admit to regretting these surgeries and are saying they were rushed or encouraged into them by the medical industry, online activist groups, parents, or teachers.

Even the phrase, ‘gender assigned at birth’ is a fabrication. Gender is assigned at conception and recorded at birth. Doctors do not bestow it upon an individual by sighting them.

The first step to society engaging in a cultural shift away from medical intervention in the sexual development of minors is awareness. If nothing else, Do No Harm has done an excellent job of alerting Americans to the procedures taking place in their hospitals.