Health bosses in the Biden administration have urged an international panel of medical experts to eliminate age restrictions for adolescent surgeries for the care of transgender minors, court documents say.
Officials are concerned that age minimums could intensify the rising political opposition to these treatments.
Emails from members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health reveal how staff for Admiral Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services - who is a transgender woman - asked them to drop the proposed limits from the group’s guidelines.
Draft guidelines, released in 2021, recommended lowering the age minimums to 14 for hormonal treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, and 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies.
Health bosses in the Biden administration have urged an international panel of medical experts to eliminate age restrictions for adolescent surgeries for the care of transgender minors, court documents sayGettyThe proposed age limits were removed in the final guidelines, sparking concerns among the international group and outside experts about the disappearance of the age proposals.
Now, the release of the emails provide a possible insight into potential reasons for those guideline changes.
One extract from an unnamed member of the WPATH guideline development group recalled a conversation with Sarah Boateng, Admiral Levine’s former chief of staff: "She is confident, based on the rhetoric she is hearing in DC, and from what we have already seen, that these specific listings of ages, under 18, will result in devastating legislation for trans care.
"She wonders if the specific ages can be taken out."
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Another email said that Admiral Levine "was very concerned that having ages (mainly for surgery) will affect access to care for trans youth and maybe adults, too.
"Apparently the situation in the USA is terrible and she and the Biden administration worried that having ages in the document will make matters worse. She asked us to remove them."
The emails were submitted as part of a report by James Cantor, a psychologist and longstanding critic of gender treatments for minors, in support of Alabama’s ban on transgender medical care for minors.
Transgender rights groups have sought legal action to block laws such as Alabama's, which have been enacted in over 20 Republican-controlled states since 2021. However, the courts have delivered mixed rulings on these cases.
Emails from members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health reveal how staff for Admiral Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services - who is a transgender woman - asked them to drop the proposed limits from the group’s guidelines
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The question of when, or if, teenagers should be permitted to undergo transgender treatments and surgeries has sparked intense political debate.
Opponents argue that teenagers are too young to make such decisions, while supporters contend that young people with gender dysphoria risk depression and increased distress if their needs are not met.
However, the surge in the number of young people seeking such treatments has led clinicians globally to have different opinions on the matter.
