CMA-USA Praises HHS for Recent Report on Gender Dysphoria in Youth
May 7, 2025
The Catholic Medical Association (USA) applauds HHS for its recent report, Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria Review of Evidence and Best Practice, that confirms what other countries once supporting hormonal and surgical interventions are saying: psychological therapy is the best therapy for children with gender dysphoria.
“Too many children have been harmed by these medical interventions,” said pediatrician and CMA President Michelle Stanford, M.D. “It is imperative that the medical community now seek to help those children and young adults harmed and prevent any further injury. The Catholic Medical Association will continue to advocate for the most vulnerable and be a voice for ethical, evidence-based medicine.”
The HHS Review is in keeping with the findings in other scientific systematic reviews conducted in Sweden, Finland, and in England; all indicating that the evidence suggesting a benefit for using hormonal and surgical intervention to treat gender dysphoria in youth is of low quality. CMA has been a leading voice in the U.S., expressing concern that top medical associations continue to promote “gender-affirming care” despite these reports.
“Our European colleagues have already seen the damages that these interventions cause, and have rightfully restricted these methods,” said Tim Millea, M.D., the chairman of CMA’s Health Care Policy Committee. “It is very disturbing that leaders in American medicine, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, continue to promote these life-long, and often life-threatening interventions. It is past time for the United States medical community to say ‘enough’!”
These protocols were recommended by WPATH and the Endocrine Society, however these international systemic reviews found that the recommended guidelines “lack developmental rigour and transparency.” The HHS Review also found that in developing their Standards of Care, Version-8 (SOC-8), WPATH “suppressed systematic reviews its leaders believed would undermine its favored treatment approach. SOC-8 developers also violated conflict of interest management requirements and eliminated nearly all recommended age minimums for medical and surgical interventions in response to political pressures.”
According to the executive findings, the standard protocol is for safe and effective treatments to be established in the adult population first and then extended to the pediatric populations, “in this case, however, the opposite occurred: clinician-researchers developed the pediatric medical transition protocol in response to disappointing psychosocial outcomes in adults who underwent medical transition.”
“We must recognize that youth struggling with their gender truly and greatly suffer,” said plastic surgeon and CMA Executive Board Member Alfonso Oliva, M.D. “However, their suffering can only be relieved by treating any underlying psychological problems. There is overwhelming scientific evidence now that psychological treatment should be the primary mode of treatment.”
