Michael Shellenberger--one of the many independent journalists I subscribe to--has acquired a treasure trove of both video and internal messaging files from the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH). 

They reveal exactly what you think they would: doctors are performing experimental and dangerous medical procedures on children who the doctors know are incapable of understanding the consequences of their choices. 

This not only directly contradicts what WPATH officials routinely tell Congress, the public, and insurance companies but also violates medical ethics that have been broadly agreed on for decades. In fact, violating these ethical standards has been ruled a war crime under the Nurenberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed consent is one of the cornerstones of medical ethics, and it is based on the principle of human autonomy. And, as I have written before, it is under enormous attack. You already know how these principles have been violated during COVID, and that the FDA has changed its guidance on human experimentation to reduce the protections against performing medical experiments without consent. And several states have or are considering measures to cut parents out of medical consent for procedures performed on children. 

In Shellenberger's revelations, which he has dubbed The WPATH Files, he provides conclusive proof that so-called "gender-affirming care" for minors is routinely performed without informed consent, because, as the doctors themselves admit, children are unable to understand what they are agreeing to. Mia Hughes has analyzed the nearly 200 pages of secretly obtained documents from WPATH. 

Part I: Children and Adolescents

“We're explaining things to people who haven't even had biology in high school…”

“I think the thing you have to remember about kids is that we're often explaining these sorts of things to people who haven't even had biology in high school yet,”… pic.twitter.com/eCjNbkVuOT

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 4, 2024

The doctors not only admit that the children don't understand what will be done to them, the parents really don't either. They don't understand the risks, the consequences, the permanent nature of the changes they are agreeing to. Further, many of the patients have severe mental illness such as bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and similarly crippling mental illnesses. 

“To what degree… providers discuss actual rates of surgical complications… (e.g., pain…additional surgeries, necrotic tissue, infection, hematomas…”

Many young patients experiencing gender distress do not appear to understand that they may suffer serious consequences from… pic.twitter.com/hQ6U6qFIiz

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 4, 2024

WPATH presents "gender-affirming" care as the gold standard for treating children with "Gender Identity Disorder" (GID)--a proposition that is now almost universally rejected in Europe, where the practice of transitioning children began. Yet the risks involved are glossed over, including osteoporosis, stunted growth and brain development (studies show that puberty blockers reduce IQ), surgical complications, cancer, and death. 

Children can't understand what the loss of sexual function actually means, don't understand the significance of fertility loss, and can't comprehend the necessity of lifelong medical care, including painful maintenance such as daily dilation. Asking an 8-year-old to commit to lifelong medical care that could shorten their life, cause permanent damage to their body, and possibly kill them is frankly insane. 

Many Parents Don’t Understand What Will Happen To Their Children

“I try to kind of do whatever I can to help them understand best they, best I can,” says a therapist. “But what really disturbs me is when the parents can't tell me what they need to know about a medical… pic.twitter.com/PJLGVCrGIT

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 5, 2024

Surgeries are being performed on mentally-challenged children at young ages--people with severe brain development issues, and the doctors are aware that they are performing unethical treatment. They are just so ideologically committed that they ignore the moral issues and routinely lie to the public about what they are doing. 

They aren't struggling, even when they claim to be, because they keep their doubts secret and act as boosters for the procedures they know are morally and medically dubious. 

“Oh, the dog isn’t doing it for you?”

Many gender medicine victims are filled with regret that they were sterilized. Nobody knows this more than the doctors who mistreated them. At times, their response to such regret appears callous.

“I follow a lot of kids into their mid… pic.twitter.com/fUyRiQxhAk

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 5, 2024

The psychiatric profession used to recognize that GID was a mental illness and was tied to many serious mental co-morbidities, but under pressure, they reversed themselves and proclaimed a "dysphoria" (which is a feeling, by definition) a physical medical condition that can be treated with drugs and surgery. 

Part II: Mental Illness

“A Patient Who Became Dangerous”

On an unknown date, a San Francisco-based surgeon named Thomas Satterwhite posted an urgent new message to WPATH’s internal message board.

“I had a patient who became dangerous/threatening to our care team post-op,” he… pic.twitter.com/6kaHfV4N9Q

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 5, 2024

Several times I have compared these medical treatments to lobotomies, which were also considered gold standard medical care and for which the inventor was awarded a Nobel Prize. We now recognize the era of lobotomies as a medical horror show, but we have apparently learned nothing. 

“Disordered eating,” “purposeful malnutrition,” and a “high prevalence of eating disorders”

A therapist raises concerns in a message about the age of a patient.

“I have an incoming 13yo (soon to be 14 yo)... I was under the impression that is more the exception to start for… pic.twitter.com/XPL8Rh24yj

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 5, 2024

“...I was surprised to find that several of my clients met criteria for dissociative disorders...” pic.twitter.com/4O1VL3Dley

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 5, 2024

“...I have noted a high incidence of dissociative disorders...” pic.twitter.com/K8QKTyPAIl

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) March 5, 2024

There is much more in the report, and I haven't had time to dive into it as it has just been released. 

But you certainly get the idea: these doctors are well aware that they are treating mentally ill patients, patients who are too young to consent and are unaware of what their choices entail, are putting these patients at risk of permanent injury and death, and they routinely lie to the public about what they are doing. 

There is no place hot enough in hell for these people to rot in.