UT Southwestern is acknowledging that it considered nonmedical factors — including press attention and political controversy — in its decision to close a groundbreaking program for transgender youth to new patients.
In an extensive statement to The Dallas Morning News, UT Southwestern said several considerations informed its choice to discontinue certain care for trans adolescents under a program previously known as “Genecis.”
Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center, which operated the program, in November removed the Genecis branding and began referring new patients to outside providers for treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
At the time, the hospitals said the changes were made to provide current patients with more privacy as the program came under increasing attention from critics. UT Southwestern on Tuesday said that was still the case, but acknowledged other factors were considered.
“Media attention and political and scientific controversy, as well as UT Southwestern’s status as a state agency, were considered in the months leading up to these joint decisions,” UT Southwestern said in a statement emailed to The News.
The statement came hours after The New York Times reported that political pressure, including outreach from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, factored in the Genecis decisions. Citing recordings of calls The Times obtained involving hospital executives, the report did not detail what Abbott’s staff is purported to have said or how much influence the contact ultimately had.
The hospital denied that Abbott was directly involved in the decision. It did not say whether anyone else from his office was included in the talks.
Genecis, a 7-year-old program, shuttered certain medical treatment options for new patients on Nov. 18. In its Tuesday statement, UT Southwestern mentioned concerns over “limited understanding of the long-term effects — both psychological and physical — on children who receive this treatment.”
Citing a lack of “controlled trials,” UT Southwestern added that there are no medications currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat gender dysphoria “in youth.”
Gender dysphoria is the feeling of discomfort or distress that can occur in people who identify as a gender that is different from the gender or sex assigned at birth, according to the Mayo Clinic.
And while it raised questions about whether certain treatments have received enough scientific scrutiny, UT Southwestern acknowledged the hospitals continue to provide them to those patients enrolled in Genecis before November and to non-transgender children experiencing early puberty.
“Current patients who had already [started] on these treatments continue to receive them as before. Hormone therapy continues to be provided to pediatric patients for diagnosis including precocious puberty as approved by the FDA,” UT Southwestern said.
It’s unclear what distinction, if any, UT Southwestern made between pre-pubescent child and adolescent patients in its decision-making.
Medical best practices dictate that mental health care is the primary form of treatment for gender dysphoria for children who have not reached puberty, and treatments like hormones should only be considered for youths who have experienced the onset of puberty and are undergoing mental health evaluation, experts say.
The risks for withholding medical treatment for eligible adolescents can be severe, including worsening gender dysphoria, and abuse and stigmatization by outsiders, according to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the organization that publishes the standards of care for the health of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.
Transgender and gender-diverse youth experience anxiety and depression at much higher rates than their peers, according to a 2021 national survey by the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth.
The same survey found that transgender youth whose gender identity was affirmed reported lower rates of attempting suicide.
While it denied direct involvement from Abbott, UT Southwestern said in its Tuesday statement that its designation as a state entity informed its decision regarding Genecis, and as such, it does not take positions on political issues.
UT Southwestern said that Genecis was never a standalone clinic and that it was not “‘closed,’ as has been misreported in the media.” Still, all references to “Genecis” were removed from a website and medical options were halted for new patients.
“The decision to remove the Genecis program branding was made to provide a more private experience for patients and families,” the hospital said.
Earlier this year, national LGBTQ rights group the Human Rights Campaign suspended the hospitals from its list of facilities that ensure equitable care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer patients.
UT Southwestern on Tuesday insisted it was still dedicated to providing this community with “a welcoming” environment and the care they need: “The safety and privacy of our patients is our top priority.”
