March 25, 2026 

Reaffirming Commitment to Evidence-Based Pediatric Gender Affirming Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Doctors for America acknowledges and stands in disagreement with recent statements published by medical professional organizations, namely the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Medical Association, that advise surgeons “delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.” This stance is in direct opposition to a long-standing consensus among the medical community, championed by other professional medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which asserts that medical decision-making for transgender and gender non-conforming youth should be a multidisciplinary, personalized, and shared decision amongst child, parents/guardians, and clinician(s). 

Currently, there are multi-pronged efforts by the federal government to restrict access to pediatric gender affirming care, including proposed federal legislation, changes to Medicaid coverage and hospital funding for such care, and methodologically flawed research stating this care is dangerous for children. Doctors for America affirms that such efforts to limit such care are doing real harm to transgender patients, their families, and the clinicians who care for them. For example, proposed rules by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to restrict hospital funding if they continue to provide pediatric gender affirming care have caused multiple major academic centers to close their programs. With increasingly limited options for families and patients to seek treatment for gender dysphoria, Doctors for America fears that rates of mental distress and suicidality will increase without access to this critical treatment modality. We as a country and as a profession want our nation’s children to be well and to thrive. Such efforts to limit life-saving treatment for transgender and gender non-conforming children are in direct opposition to this ethos.

As such, Doctors for America reaffirms its commitment to evidence-based pediatric gender affirming care, and supports the current standard of care for treatment of gender dysphoria in pediatric transgender and gender non-conforming patients. Furthermore, Doctors for America urges the restoration and expansion of access to such services so clinicians can continue to provide life-saving care to transgender and gender non-conforming children, their families, and their community.

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About Doctors for America:

Doctors for America (DFA) is a national nonprofit that mobilizes over 40,000 physicians and medical trainees to advocate for policies that improve the health of patients and communities. Through advocacy training and action at the state and federal levels, DFA works to expand access to affordable care, strengthen community health and prevention, and advance health justice and equity. We do not accept funding from pharmaceutical, insurance, or for-profit health care entities, ensuring our work remains fiercely independent and patient-centered. DFA puts patients over politics–and over profits. Find out more at doctorsforamerica.org and on X @drsforamerica or Bluesky drsforamerica.bsky.social.

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