Gender transition procedures did not solve underlying psychological problems that were ignored, detransitioners say during a Capitol Hill forum.
WASHINGTON—Dr. Eithan Haim, a surgeon from Texas, says that some physicians cannot handle the shock after realizing that prescribing drugs or performing surgeries for youth with gender dysphoria can cause harm.
Haim said such doctors “have to grow a spine” and speak out about this alleged malpractice in the medical community toward vulnerable youth that “turn them into chronic medical patients.”
“Self-reflection for them would be self-immolation. Their souls, I don’t think, could survive that reality, that truth,” he said in an interview March 12 with Jan Jekielek on NTD, a sister outlet of The Epoch Times.
“So they lie to themselves.”
Haim recently emerged from a legal battle with the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden. The Texas physician faced charges of illegally accessing medical records when he revealed that a Houston hospital was performing gender transition procedures on minors, against state law.
Those charges were dropped shortly after the election of President Donald Trump.
Haim was a guest panelist at a Capitol Hill forum highlighting detransitioners—individuals who have undergone gender transition procedures, but later chose to halt those procedures or attempt to reverse them.
The panel, hosted by detransition advocacy group Genspect, was held on Wednesday, Detrans Awareness Day. Established in 2021, Detrans Awareness Day honors the experiences of detransitioners and raises awareness about the harmful effects of gender ideology and “gender medicine.”
Speaking during the panel, Dr. Patrick Hunter, a pediatrician, said he is “not optimistic” that doctors will change their minds about “gender-affirming care” unless motivated by public scrutiny and the threat of legal and financial action.
“Make them defend themselves, that will damage their reputation, and help save kids,” he said.
Dr. Patrick Lappert, a plastic surgeon, told attendees that hormone therapies can be reversed, but many “below-the-belt” surgeries cannot, leaving patients disfigured and unable to conceive children. They may also experience kidney, bladder, and bowel problems.
Surgical assistance to detransitioners after such surgeries involves “managing the complications of what they’ve done in the past,” Lappert said.
“Surgery is essentially management of chronic wounds and chronic problems, but there’s no way to reverse genital mutilation.”
