By: Prisha Mosley and Claire Abernathy
Last week, we shared our stories at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) workshop on “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors” in Washington, D.C. We joined medical professionals, whistleblowers, and fellow detransitioners to raise the alarm about the physical and psychological dangers of this medical fraud.
Our stories are becoming far too common. When we were teenagers, doctors told us that testosterone injections and double mastectomies would cure the mental anguish we each suffered from. Doctors lied to us and said we were born in the wrong bodies rather than stopping to investigate the underlying anxiety and trauma that had created our confusion in the first place.
But testosterone and surgery didn’t cure us. It is impossible to change your sex—we learned this the hard way. We were sold medical transition as a product; lied to by those who were supposed to have our best interests at heart.
At the FTC’s panel, we recounted how at every stage of our medicalization, we were misled. Our doctors did not explain the risks of procedures intended to alter our sex characteristics. They did not care about the trauma we had experienced that led us to seek out medical treatment. They did not want to help either of us feel safe and loved in our female bodies. Instead, they told us and our parents that if we didn’t get “gender-affirming” treatment, we would die from suicide.
Our bodies and futures became experiments that we never consented to. And our doctors were the salesmen of this experimentation.
Even years later, we still suffer the consequences of their “treatments.” Neither of us will ever get to breastfeed, for example, and other dangers we were never warned of, both physical and psychological, will forever affect our lives.
The FTC has the power to put an end to this fraud under its charge to stop “unfair or deceptive acts and practices” in commerce. And stories like ours are leading the way in the fight to hold the healthcare industry accountable for the role it has played in harming gender-confused youth.
In fact, during the agency’s workshop, Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle announced that the DOJ has issued nearly two dozen subpoenas to investigate healthcare fraud and false statements related to so-called “gender-affirming care.” The DOJ also made it clear that as they investigate, they want to hear more stories like ours.
After we spoke at the panel, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Andrew N. Ferguson promised that the FTC would do “everything in its power” to ensure that no more children or parents will be misled about these procedures and robbed of their right to informed consent.
This follows the Trump administration’s recent “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” executive order that restricts federal tax dollars from funding these procedures and works toward creating a pathway for us and anyone else harmed by these procedures to seek justice.
This is the greatest medical scandal of our lifetimes. We were vulnerable children, and the doctors charged with our care lied to us. They defrauded us and other vulnerable youth like us. This is why we continue to share our stories. And we won’t stop until those who stole our futures are held accountable and no more children are subjected to this abuse.
