Watchdog Reveals ‘Disturbing’ Consent Form Details Offered to Children by Utah Gender Clinic

Forms revealed the extent of irreversible damage children undergoing gender-changing surgeries will likely suffer as a result of the procedures.

An attendee at a planned "walkout" at the University of Florida holds a sign that says "Trans Healthcare is a Human Right, Not a Political Pawn!" on the Gainesville, Fla. campus on Feb. 23, 2023. Nanette Holt/The Epoch Times

Gender-transition treatments offered by gender clinics to minors can result in serious side effects like erectile dysfunction, loss of fertility, decreased sperm production, and even death, admitted “consent forms” obtained by advocacy America First Legal (AFL).

In June, AFL filed public records requests with gender clinics in five states to obtain records related to “gender-affirming care.” The advocacy recently received consent forms from the University of Utah Health: Gender Management and Support Clinic.

The consent forms (pdf) require children to acknowledge “disturbing changes to the body,” AFL said in a Sept. 20 press release. The Utah clinic offered minors “feminizing therapy” and “masculinizing therapy” options—both of which come with a host of side effects and the risk of permanent damage.

The “feminizing therapy” option typically consists of estrogen pills or injections as well as puberty blockers to “block the effects of testosterone in your body,” the document states.

“Estrogen can cause some permanent, and some reversible changes in your body.” Chest growth is classified as “irreversible” by the clinic, while decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, and decreased sperm production are classified as “variable.”

The forms also warn that the use of estrogen for “gender-affirming” hormone therapy is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As such, “there may be long-term risks that are currently unknown.”

Consent forms can protect the healthcare provider, to some extent, in future lawsuits.

Estrogen in sex-change therapy is associated with an increased risk of “high blood pressure, blood clots, heart disease, diabetes, liver and kidney disease, non-cancerous tumors of the pituitary gland, gall stones, breast cancer, headaches and migraines, and loss of fertility.”

Blocking testosterone comes with risks of increased urination, muscle weakness, nerve problems, and increased risk of liver damage, the document states.

On the consent form, the person undergoing the treatment has to admit that they realize the “feminizing therapy” can shrink testicles 25-50 percent, make it harder to orgasm, more difficult to have erections, cause a loss of interest in sex, and even result in a stroke that may lead to permanent brain damage or death.

“I know these medications can cause changes that other people will notice. Some transgender and gender non-conforming people have experienced harassment, discrimination, and violence because of this. Others have lost the support of loved ones. I know my clinician can help me find advocacy and support resources,” says a statement that a person has to agree to in the form.

The “masculinizing therapy” option involves the use of testosterone injections and comes with the following “irreversible” changes—loss of scalp hair, clitoral enlargement, facial and body hair growth, and deepened voice. The use of testosterone for “gender-affirming” hormone therapy is not FDA-approved and could result in unknown long-term risks as with estrogen, it states.

In a sex-change therapy, increasing testosterone can result in “increased risks of high cholesterol, increased red blood cell count, heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, headaches and migraines, emotional changes, and loss of fertility.”

It can “also cause thinning of the tissues in your cervix and vagina. This can lead to tearing during vaginal sex play, and can increase the risk of getting sexually transmitted infections.” The therapy suggests medication for stopping monthly bleeding.

Puberty Blockers

In the FAQ section of the form, the clinic assures that the effects of puberty blockers are “fully reversible and there is no long-term effect on fertility related to the blockers after the blockers are stopped.”

Testosterone medication for gender transitioning used for injecting into fatty tissue in Northern California on Aug. 26, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

“The use of hormone blockers is fully supported for use in achieving puberty suppression in adolescents with gender incongruence by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the Endocrine Society,” it states.

However, the clinic contradicts the “fully reversible” claim in the same document when it says they have “no data on how the temporary absence of sex hormones might affect brain development.”

The clinic also offers “non-binary/gender fluid” options, stating that there is no “right way” to transition and that they will work to create a unique plan “that best fits your needs and desires.”

Following the release of the documents, Ian Prior, AFL senior advisor, called “gender-affirming” care “fiction.”

“The reality is that the clinics are experimenting on children, knowing full well the life-altering nature of those experiments,” he said in a statement.

“If we do not put a stop to this, in generations to come, America will look back in shame and horror at what was done to children in the name of a morally bankrupt ideology.”

Transgender Treatments in US

The promotion of transgender therapies among American children is happening as the United States was identified as the “most permissive country” for legal and medical gender transition of kids, according to a Jan. 16 study by advocacy “Do No Harm.”

The report compared the country with 11 Northern and Western European nations. In Finland, adolescents were allowed puberty blockers and hormones until 2020, when the country’s national health care council changed how it dealt with the issue by recommending mental health treatments.

A young girl at the annual New York City Pride March in New York City, on June 25, 2023. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

In Sweden, health authorities updated their guidelines by advising against the use of puberty blockers among youngsters with gender dysphoria. In July last year, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) announced shutting down the nation’s only gender clinic for children.

In contrast, the transgender treatment business aimed at children is being heavily promoted in the United States.

“Many European countries have only a single gender clinic for children as opposed to the United States, which has at least 80 pediatric gender clinics and allows independent physicians and nurse practitioners to dispense puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone,” Dr. Michelle Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, said in an interview with The Epoch Times.

Some U.S. states have begun taking action against transgender treatments for kids. In March, Georgia banned child gender transition, with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signing a bill to this effect. Though the law was suppressed through a preliminary injunction by a court, another court upheld the ban earlier this month.

Louisiana banned certain transgender procedures for minors under the age of 18 in July after lawmakers overturned the Democrat Governor’s veto of a bill prohibiting such activities.

Last June, a 17-year-old girl who regretted removing her breasts as part of “gender-affirming” care testified during a California Assembly committee hearing, detailing her suffering as a result of the procedure.

“I will never be able to breastfeed a child. I have blood clots in my urine. I am unable to fully empty my bladder. I do not yet know if I am capable of carrying a child to full term. In fact, even the doctors who put me on puberty blockers and testosterone do not know,” she said.