Texas Children’s Hospital has opened the nation’s first detransition clinic as required by its settlement with Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Vanessa Sivadge, a nurse and whistleblower in the case, announced on X that the detransition clinic is now open. Under the settlement, finalized in July, the hospital was required to open the clinic before the end of October.
“I think of all the detransitioners who have suffered in silence, been dismissed, and fought desperately to have their voices heard,” posted Sivadge. “This win is for them.”
The clinic offers multidisciplinary detransition-related care free of charge for five years. Services include endocrinology, surgery, primary care, fertility counseling, mental health services, social work, and speech pathology.
“This is a story of redemption. Of true justice,” posted Sivadge on X in August. “The hospital who once sanctioned the harming of children is now setting the standard for their help and healing, at zero cost.”
Besides opening the clinic, the settlement requires the hospital to pay $10 million in penalties and retributions, and permanently cut ties with doctors who performed gender transition interventions on minors.
According to Paxton’s office, the settlement “resolves allegations that Texas Children’s improperly billed Texas Medicaid for sex-change interventions using false diagnosis codes despite longstanding state policy prohibiting Medicaid coverage for such procedures.”
It followed a years-long controversy over Texas Children’s promotion of gender mutilation procedures for children, which was discontinued after public scrutiny.
“This historic settlement is a resounding defeat for the radical gender ideology that has preyed on Texas children under the guise of ‘care,’” said Paxton when the settlement was finalized.
“This settlement sends an unmistakable message: if you put radical ideology over children’s health, my office will go after you. We will continue to lead the way in stopping the far-left’s radical gender agenda,” he continued.
Whistleblowers Vanessa Sivadge and Dr. Eithan Haim inspired further investigation into the hospital.
While a nurse at Texas Children’s, Sivadge “observed that transgender patients continued to be treated in the Endocrine and Gynecology departments despite the hospital’s 2022 public statement that it had discontinued gender-affirming care for minors.”
According to Sivadge’s attorneys at Burke Law Group, as the first detransition clinic of its kind in the nation, the settlement paves the way for pending action in other states.
Paxton’s office said the settlement was reached in coordination with President Trump’s Department of Justice.
