A Chicago children’s hospital has admitted that they rely on “anecdotal evidence” because they do not have enough evidence to support the treatments they provide in their transgender healthcare program.
The concerning idea was revealed in a webinar hosted by Amaze, a website that reportedly educates children about sex, porn and gender ideology.
Dr. Robert Garofalo, Division Head of the Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Lurie Children’s Hospital Chicago, was interviewed during the webinar in 2020.
A clip from the webinar was shared on the Twitter account Libs of TikTok showing Garofalo admitting to the lack of evidence for treatment of minors.
“You work with trans kids and teens,” said the webinar host, “and I would love for you to share with people like a little window of what the process is like when a family comes to you.”
“Y’know, when kids realize they’re trans, like what are they looking for when they meet with you? Is this a risky process for a young person?” they asked.
“Yeah, I mean, the answer to that is largely no and yes,” Garofalo responded. “You know, so there are things that we do not know about the process.”
“But, you know, these are medical interventions that have been used for a long time now, they’ve been done quite safely,” he added.
The interventions often include puberty blockers. A popular option is Lupron, which has been used to treat prostate cancer, endometriosis, and precocious puberty, reported the Post Millennial.
The drug, however, is not approved by the FDA and its maker does not recommend it for treating for gender dysphoria.
“The medical interventions themselves are not rocket science,” Garofalo continued to say in the webinar.
“I mean, these are medications that we’ve used in other conditions for many years that have a really strong evidence base,” he added.
Garofalo said he knows “for a fact that the teams that are out there that are doing this work and do it with a lot of care and thought and precision.”
He then went on to say that “there is not a full range of evidence to support the treatments that we’re using,” but suggests “a lot of anecdotal evidence” supports the idea that “these treatments can be used, both safe safely and appropriately.”
The Lurie Children’s Hospital website specifies that “Gender affirming surgery refers to a wide range of surgical interventions, including chest surgery, surgery involving reproductive organs, and surgery on facial structures.”
The Post Millennial discovered that according to the hospital’s “Gender Development Program” homepage, a clinical diagnosis of persistent gender dysphoria isn’t necessary to receive treatment.
A “gender-affirmative” care model is supported by the hospital, meaning medical professionals can’t question a child’s transgender identity, and can’t explore possible causes of their dysphoria.
“Since its inception, the Lurie Children’s Gender Development Program has proudly provided clinical care and clinical support services to over 2,000 transgender and gender diverse children, adolescents and their families,” the hospital said in a press release.