One of the largest paediatric hospitals in the US is to establish a clinic for transgender youth to detransition, as part of a settlement with Texas authorities. Texas Children's Hospital in Houston has agreed to pay the state $10 million and stop providing gender-affirming care to minors, including puberty blockers, hormonal therapy and surgery.
The Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, described the clinic as the nation's 'first-ever detransition clinic'. The hospital will fund all services at the clinic for the first five years, and treatment will be free for patients. As part of the agreement, the hospital has also been encouraged to terminate multiple physicians.
The settlement follows allegations that the hospital billed Texas Medicaid for gender-affirming care using false diagnosis codes. Texas Children's said it had spent three years investigating and sent over five million documents to the US justice department and state attorney general, maintaining it had been compliant with all laws.
The announcement comes amid a campaign by Donald Trump's administration against gender-affirming care. In January 2025, the president issued an executive order directing federally funded institutions to end what he called 'the chemical and surgical mutilation of children'. Texas had already banned hormonal therapy and gender-affirming surgery for children in 2023.
The US justice department said the settlement was the first resolution in its investigations into gender-affirming care for youth. Acting attorney general Todd Blanche stated that the department would continue to pursue medical providers and pharmaceutical companies that provide such care for minors.
