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Transgender Care at Children's Hospital 'a Concern' says Judge

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A juvenile court judge in Ohio says she's concerned about what's happening in the Transgender Health Clinic at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

The comments came during a Hamilton County Juvenile Court order issued Friday by Judge Sylvia Hendon in which she terminated the parental rights of a 17-year-old girl, giving legal custody of the teen to her grandparents.  

Hendon noted that when the child's parents first took her to the hospital for psychiatric treatment of anxiety and depression "that diagnosis quickly became one of gender dysphoria." Gender dysphoria, as the judge notes, is when there's a "discrepancy between a person's gender identity and the gender assigned at birth."

The judge said the child had lived until the summer of 2016 with a consistent gender identity and concluded "it is understandable that the parents were legitimately surprised and confused when the child's anxiety and depression symptoms became the basis for the diagnosis of gender dysphoria."

"It is a concern for the court," said Hendon, "that 100 percent of the patients seen by Children's Hospital Clinic who present for care are considered to be appropriate candidates for continued gender treatment." Dr. Lee Ann Conard, the director of the transgender program, presented that statistic to the court.

Hendon said research shows candidates for transgender transition therapy must be consistent in the presentation of their gender identity, noting that the child didn't display signs of gender dysphoria until 2016.

Aaron Baer, president of Citizens for Community Values, told CBN News that the non-profit will ask the Ohio attorney general to investigate the hospital. Baer said its track record of giving all patients treatment to help with gender transition is inconsistent with research which shows that many children outgrow early gender dysphoria.

A hospital spokesman told CBN News he is unable to comment on the case as litigation is still pending.

The parents of the 17-year-old objected to hormone therapy for their daughter although they supported ongoing therapy sessions for her at the hospital.  They ultimately gave up their custody as their daughter "expressed suicidal intent if forced to return to their home."

However, the judge noted that medical records showed that the child's thoughts of suicide during the filing of the complaint were not an "imminent threat."

The judge's order mandates that a psychologist not affiliated with the hospital evaluate the child before any hormone therapy begins.

Judge Hendon also wants Ohio lawmakers to consider legislation that would help juvenile courts determine a minor's "right to consent to gender therapy."

Dr. Ryan Anderson explains in his new book "When Harry Became Sally" that transgender activists consider hormone therapy and surgery to be the standard of care for those experiencing gender dysphoria.  

He also cites evidence that some social workers are beginning to view families that don't accept their child's transgender desires as toxic and unsafe. These families, he says, risk losing custody of their children. "Their child may be taken away from them," he says "and the parents will be told it's the only way to prevent the child from committing suicide."


 

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About The Author

Heather
Sells

Heather Sells covers wide-ranging stories for CBN News that include religious liberty, ministry trends, immigration, and education. She’s known for telling personal stories that capture the issues of the day, from the border sheriff who rescues migrants in the desert to the parents struggling with a child that identifies as transgender. In the last year, she has reported on immigration at the Texas border, from Washington, D.C., in advance of the Dobbs abortion case, at crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, and on sexual abuse reform at the annual Southern Baptist meeting in Anaheim