Texas AG launches probe into trans 'science experiments' at America's biggest children's hospital

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched a probe into transgender 'science experiments' at America's biggest children's hospital, after a whistleblower claimed doctors were carrying out clandestine procedures there.

Paxton, a Republican, said he was probing claims that Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) doctors defied state guidelines by continuing to prescribe puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children as young as 11.

TCH told DailyMail.com that it works to help trans-identified minors within the law. Providing children with gender-affirming care, as it is known, has become a frontline issue between conservatives and liberals.

'I've been clear that any gender transitioning procedures that hurt our children constitute child abuse under Texas law,' Paxton said in a statement.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says 'unhinged activists' are behind a medical system that's too eager to get confused kids onto puberty blockers 

Texas Children's Hospital (pictured) has been providing transgender treatments to children despite promising to stop the practice, it is alleged

'Though many unhinged activists compromising the healthcare field think otherwise, children are not to be treated as science experiments.'

Paxton referred to whistleblower allegations published this week by the Manhattan Institute think tank that TCH continued to provide trans care to kids despite stating they had stopped doing so in March last year.

The Houston-based hospital may still 'be unlawfully performing such procedures, and my office it is working to uncover the truth,' he said.

'Doctors and hospitals should not be pushing mutilative and irreversible gender transitioning procedures that will negatively impact innocent children for the rest of their lives.'

The Manhattan Institute, a New York-based think tank that published the original whistleblower claims, said the state's top lawyer could use his subpoena powers to reveal whether TCH had broken state rules.

The unnamed whistleblower said they would uncover a 'house of horrors,' the think tank said in a statement.

TCH told DailyMail.com that it operated within the law.

'Throughout the policy debate surrounding gender medicine, our healthcare professionals have always and will continue to prioritize the care of our patients within the bounds of the law,' a spokeswoman said.

The hospital did not immediately respond to our request for comment on the investigation.

The case underscores how sex-reassignment treatments for children have become a frontline in America's culture wars, and how hospitals providing such care in red states increasingly operate in a gray area.

Whistleblower documents released by the Manhattan Institute (pictured) purportedly show that Texas Children's Hospital has continued to provide so-called 'gender-affirming care' for young gender-dysphoric patients, including the administration of implantable puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Advocates of gender-affirming care, as it is known, say it is necessary treatment for suicide-prone minors. Critics say kids are too young to opt for irreversible sex change treatments, and often just need mental health counselling instead.

TCH, the nation's largest pediatric hospital, last March said it had stopped gender-affirming therapies after Gov. Gregg Abbott, a Republican, ordered the state's child welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-confirming care for kids as 'child abuse'.

Christopher Rufo, the right-wing intellectual who led the Manhattan Institute's investigation, says TCH 'secretly restarted its child sex-change program three days later — and has continued it en masse ever since.'

He published documents from an unnamed whistleblower showing TCH doctors provided gender treatments to kids within days of the hospital's decision, and continued to do so throughout 2022 and into 2023.

They appear to be photos of a hospital computer screen showing TCH medical records. The images have been redacted to remove the names of the young patients, as medical records are confidential.

According to the files, one doctor at the Texas hospital preformed transgender medical procedures on minors whose ages ranged from 12 to 17, with 'visit types' listed as 'gender dysphoria' and 'gender identity.'

Another visit was listed for 'HRT [hormone replacement therapy].'

Another doctor has also been involved in trans treatments on children, the documents suggest. These included the removal of 'non-biodegradable drug delivery implant[s]' for 'gender dysphoria in pediatric patient[s]'. 

Pictured: Records purportedly from the hospital show appointments with minors as young as 13 who are booked in for appointments relating to transgender treatments

These are understood to be pellets placed under the skin of the upper arm that slowly release cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers to trans-identifying minors, without the need for regular jabs or pills.

One procedure listed in the documents suggests one appointment was with an 11-year-old 'female-to-male transgender person' — three days after the hospital announced it was halting such treatments.

The documents also describe a 19-year-old who was interested in breast removal surgery.

A 15-year-old is listed in the files as having 'questions about surgery.'

The documents also include image grabs of a slide deck that was presented in January 2023 titled 'Medical and Psychological Care of Gender-Diverse Youth', in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine.

The institute says that the presentation urged doctors to begin sex-change treatments for minors before puberty and consider sex-change options later.

The probe comes as the Texas state legislature is considering a total ban on sex-change treatments for minors.

Were the bill to pass, doctors found to be administering such treatments would risk having their medical licenses removed.

Paxton is also investigating similar allegations at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin.