Children’s hospital stops gender-affirming surgery for adults
- Move spurred by 'unprecedented referrals,' hospital claims
- Hospital will still provide nonsurgical care such as hormone therapy
- Some transgender rights advocates are still concerned
(NewsNation) — A children’s hospital in Colorado has stopped performing chest reconstruction on transgender adult patients, the Denver Post reported last week, though it will still offer gender-affirming care that doesn’t require surgery.
A spokeswoman for Children’s Hospital Colorado, Rachael Fowler, told the newspaper that they never performed the surgery on patients younger than 18. The hospital recently stopped offering the procedure to young adults, she said.
Gender-affirming care such as puberty blocking-medication or hormones can still be received by patients, according to the Denver Post.
Fowler told NBC News that this decision was spurred by “unprecedented referrals.” But in The Denver Post, she also talked about threats that other children’s hospitals across the country have faced because they provide gender-affirming care.
“We have taken steps as an organization to protect the safety of our team members, patients and families,” she said in the newspaper.
If adult patients want to pursue surgery, Fowler said, staff are assisting them with referrals to other hospitals.
However, although other hospitals still offer surgical procedures, Ruby Lopez, an advocate with OutBoulder, told KUSA that the precedent that’s being set is “dangerous.”
“My fear is that other hospitals are also going to follow suit,” she told the station.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.