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.”
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.
Underlying Psychological Trauma
The detransitioners who spoke at the event said their decision to undergo gender changes was preceded by psychological trauma—sometimes involving family problems.Growing up, Laura Becker said she suffered psychological and emotional abuse from her father. The 28-year-old artist and author said her father’s behavior was “very damaging,” and it made her feel worthless and left her considering suicide.
She said her doctor and therapists diagnosed her as transgender without addressing her family situation, drug abuse, or suicidal thoughts.
“I wasn’t being accepted by my own family, and when I found gender ideology ... I believed it because I didn’t have any other framework besides self-hate,” she said.
“My identity was self-hate. That’s what transgenderism is.”
Forrest Smith, who underwent hormone therapy, breast implants, and had his testicles removed, said his gender dysphoria was preceded by an addiction to online pornography, which began when he was a child.
The 28-year-old said the addiction quickly spun out of control, and resulted in a compulsion to view increasingly more deviant material, which disgusted him but had an iron grip on his young mind.
“It was really ugly, and I really look back and think there were pedophiles on the other side of that,” he said.
After years of shame and trauma, Smith said the prospect of gender transition seemed like a “spiritual” transformation that would help him break free of his self-loathing. He was presented with “total affirmation therapy” by doctors and psychologists, but said none of these professionals asked the question: “Where does this come from?”
He was offered the chance to be placed on a waiting list to receive breast implants.
“If I hesitated, they would say, ‘Well, you'll have a year to make up your mind and it’s free, so why not just get on a waitlist?’”
Smith also said some of the physicians seemed conflicted about their own work. When he decided to cancel his breast implant surgery, the surgeon told him he was making the right choice and that he thought many of his own patients were making a mistake.
However, Smith eventually did have the surgery, and had an orchiectomy to remove his testicles. Although he had the breast implants removed—a procedure his insurance refused to cover—his lower body surgery cannot be reversed.
“And of course, as soon as I start to question my transgender identity, the therapeutic profession doesn’t want to touch me. It’s hands-off,” he said.
California native Abel Garcia echoed this, saying his therapist never mentioned his childhood trauma until he decided to detransition. Before that, he said, it was like being on a “conveyor belt.” He had reached out to a therapist for help because he was confused about his gender identity and was quickly told that he was transgender.
Garcia told one medical professional that he did not want his genitals altered, a procedure commonly referred to as “bottom surgery.” He said he was fast-tracked for both surgeries anyway.
“Now, luckily, I only did get the implants,” he said.
The same therapist later tried to discourage him from detransitioning, he said.
