Seattle Children’s Hospital postponed a transgender teen’s masculinizing top surgery only hours before it was scheduled allegedly to comply with one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting health care access for trans people under the age of 19. The family says it’s unclear if or when the procedure would be rescheduled.
According to the family, hospital staff called their 16-year-old son Monday evening and explained the hospital had postponed his surgery in accordance with Trump’s executive order banning all federal support for gender-affirming care for trans people under the age of 19, which among many things, threatens to withhold federal funds from hospitals that provide such care.
The family says they were told during a meeting with surgical center staff Tuesday morning that if the hospital lost access to those federal funds, other children’s care would be at risk, and the decision was made with the entire community’s interest in mind.
Seattle Children’s Hospital did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The American Civil Liberties Union, PFLAG, families, and doctors sued the Trump administration over the order, which they say is dangerous and unconstitutional. New York State’s Attorney General Letitia James has warned hospitals that complying with the order may be violating state anti-discrimination law. The Washington State Attorney General’s office says it has heard from many Washingtonians about how this “anti-trans EO is impacting them directly.”
“In addition to our disgust with how this action cruelly targets marginalized communities, our office is also looking into the legality of the order,” a spokesperson says.
The family has asked to use pseudonyms to protect their privacy, but The Stranger has verified details of their account using medical and phone records.
Just after 5 pm yesterday, the surgery department called Ethan, a trans teen, and said his masculinizing chest reconstruction surgery had been postponed on account of the order. They offered a therapist, but Ethan declined because he was on the bus home from school.
The sudden cancellation was exactly what Ethan feared when he read the executive order last week. But Friday, he says, hospital staff had assured him the procedure he’d waited years for would proceed as planned.
After Ethan told his mom the news, Sarah says she left a message with the hospital asking for more information, and when she called again, staff told her they were not aware that surgeries had been cancelled. They told her to wait by the phone, but never called back. Ethan noticed his surgery had vanished from the online patient portal MyChart. Normally, when appointments are cancelled, Ethan says he receives a notification and explanation of why. He also noticed the plastic surgery page on the Seattle Children’s website had removed a section on gender-affirming surgery.
The hospital has not publicly stated a new policy on gender affirming care. However, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine shows on January 13th, the most recent capture, the site did include references to gender affirmation and gender dysphoria. They’re no longer on the site. Since the last Wayback capture of the hospital’s gender clinic page on January 18th, references to gender-affirming surgery have been removed, and since January 16th, an entire page about their Surgical Gender Affirmation Program has been taken down.
After waiting by the phone for answers, the family wanted to speak with someone in person and arrived at the hospital just ahead of their original 6:00 am call time for surgery the next morning. As they expected, his surgery was not on the schedule. Ethan knew it was unrealistic, but he held onto the small possibility that some miscommunication had occurred and the surgery would still happen. “I’ve wanted this since I started developing breasts,” Ethan says. “The fact that I got so close…is hard to deal with.”
After waiting for two hours, the family says they met with a nurse and another staff member from the hospital’s plastic surgery center. They apologized, but did not know when surgeries would be rescheduled, or if Ethan would be first in line when they were, the family says. Ethan told them he would have appreciated the warning if there were any sense this may happen.
Trump’s Executive Order also attempts to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy, referring to them all as “chemical castration.” But the family says they’ve since heard Ethan would have access to other gender-affirming care at Children’s, just not surgery.
Ethan is not very concerned about losing his access to hormones. This order does not necessarily represent forced detransition for patients in Washington. Even if more hospitals follow suit, patients can still reliably access puberty blockers and hormone therapy through telehealth providers and clinics that don’t depend on federal funding. Ethan has that option, but considers himself privileged.
Kids who get hormone replacement therapy (HRT) through Medicaid may not be able to afford those expensive medications out-of-pocket. Ethan says it’s important for trans kids to have access to this case because, at least for him, it makes him feel more comfortable and confident in his body. He doesn’t think he’d be doing as well in school, or as willing to try new things like extracurricular activities, without gender-affirming care.
“The idea of meeting new people was so terrifying,” he says. “I knew they would see me as a girl. I wasn’t sure if they would understand. The same goes for the new school I transferred to—anywhere I have to meet people.”
Ethan’s experience is consistent with studies on gender-affirming care. It’s associated with happier, healthier lives for kids experiencing gender dysphoria. The regret rate is extremely low.
Danni Askini, executive director of the transgender advocacy organization Gender Justice League, says that Seattle Children’s has a “moral obligation to care for their patients until the moment Trump shows up personally.” Washington State has some of the strongest protections for transgender people and their healthcare in the United States. The Washington Law Against Discrimination explicitly protects people on the basis of gender identity.
“They are actively doing harm by delaying these surgeries,” she says. “It is cowardly to comply in advance with an unconstitutional dictate with no enforcement mechanism and in violation of Washington State Law.”
Lawsuits may decide the fate of Trump’s executive order. But Ethan’s family is not waiting. In 2022, they began planning a move outside of the US.
Sarah says the only reason she exists is that her Jewish grandfather left Germany in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Ethan’s dad Mark says despite his “US public school education,” he absorbed the same lesson as his wife.
“It was clear [in 2022] that if he got elected things would get very bad very fast,” he says. “If we had the privilege and the ability to get out–we should.”
“Under an ideal circumstance, I would stay and spend my life on the resistance, but I am disabled and I have a trans child who is also disabled. He’s right, we should get out,” Sarah says.
“That doesn’t mean not fighting, it means putting our mask on first,” Mark says.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated that the family met with a nurse and a doctor from the hospital’s plastic surgery center. They met with a nurse and another staff member from the hospital’s plastic surgery center.
“According to the family, hospital staff called their 16-year-old son Monday evening and explained the hospital had postponed his surgery”
Oh look, that thing liberals and “progressives” claim never happens was just about to happen again.
Was part of the severance package for Hanna Kreig (which she didn’t accept) and Ashley Nerbovig (who did accept) that their names will be listed on The Stranger’s masthead forever? It’s literally been almost 5 days since they, uh… “resigned”.
“But Friday, he says, hospital staff had assured him the procedure he’d waited years for would proceed as planned.”
“WAITED YEARS FOR”
16 YEARS OLD NOW!
Once again proving that the thing that “progressives” claim “never happens” (“TRANSGENDER SURGERIES ON CHILDREN”) was just about to happen, AGAIN.
“Lawsuits may decide the fate of Trump’s executive order. But Ethan’s family is not waiting. In 2022, they began planning a move outside of the US.”
Do they have a time machine?
Does The Stranger have an editor?
“Sarah says the only reason she exists is that her Jewish grandfather left Germany in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Ethan’s dad Mark says despite his “US public school education,” he absorbed the same lesson as his wife.”
Now it all makes sense lol
““That doesn’t mean not fighting, it means putting our mask on first,” Mark says.”
I’m sure he wears his mask every day, even in his house, even when alone in his car, just like a good wimpy Seattle lib “man” should
oh wait he probably doesn’t even have a car
Hey Helyn, have you considered having maybe the tiniest smidgen of empathy for others?
@7, supergp: I have absolutely no sympathy for lying “progressives” who, at the risk of being redundant, have blatantly LIED and told us that absolutely no “transgender surgeries” were being done on anyone under 18 years of age.
They’re blatant liars, so I don’t care. Empathy is stupid anyway
@8 in Washington kids have the right to make thier own medical decisions at 13.
What “progressives” told you was that kids were not being “mutated” or coerced. It’s DT who is lying to you just like he ALWAYS has.
If teens can’t get tattoos, maybe cutting off their breasts isn’t such a good idea until they’re adults.
“oh wait he probably doesn’t even have a car”
He probably rides in the passenger seat of his crazy wife’s Prius. Wearing a mask.
“@8 in Washington kids have the right to make thier own medical decisions at 13.”
Yes, Washington state is totally fucked up and stupid, in many ways.
@11, @10 When we overthrow Emperor Musk and his lackey Trump, we need to round you nuts up, and confine you in mental institutions so that we can treat your mental illness.
“The regret rate is extremely low.” Nowhere else in medicine are people who have bad experiences and suffering cast aside flippantly as “extremely low”.
That’s just a line and is simply not true. I’m glad the brakes are being put on this. Even if there is no regret, there is lifetime of medical consequences even if the patient gets the best surgeon. Puberty blockers and cross sex hormones are not without risk in children and young adults. Sexual pleasure is at risk, not to mention fertility. Above all, young gay boys and young lesbian girls are vulnerable to adults with agendas and the social contagion that is far more than just gender dysphoria. This is a decision that only adults should make. “I wish somebody could have saved me from myself” is something no-one should utter.
That said. Transitioning is absolutely wonderful. I know much happier trans friend than she were in her earlier days but agrees there is a social contagion going on with our youth. Yes, that’s my anecdote and not data.
I pray that the folks in this comment section who are spewing hatred have the day they deserve.
If you are a transgender person reading this, know that not everyone is like these people who are both so self absorbed they cannot step into another’s shoes and so lacking in curiosity that they’ve hung fast to an antiquated version of the world. Trans people have always existed. They have, like people of color and indigenous people and women and queer people and many other marginalized communities been erased from history by ruling classes because of hatred and fear and frankly, stupidity.
We see you and we support you and you are loved. There are many more people who love you. Ignore the loudest voices in the room and look for the helpers in your communities. I pray and work and toil for a better tomorrow for all of you.
helyn dear, your teen gender fetish is creepy. Save it for the dark web. I’m sure there’s plenty of russian sites where you can manipulate your genitals until you climax.
The Stranger has repeatedly criticized the juvenile criminal justice system and claimed that young people who commit crimes should be treated differently because their brains are not fully developed until they turn 25. And yet in this article The Stranger is saying a 16 year old has a brain developed enough to be able to make major medical decisions for themselves.
Which is it? If you can’t hold young criminals accountable until they turn 25 because they can’t make appropriate decisions due to a developing brain, wouldn’t the consistent position then be you can’t let kids engage in services to transition until they’re 25? And if you’re going to say that 16 year olds have the capacity and brain development to transition at 16, then shouldn’t 16 year old criminals be treated the same as adults?
Hospital desperately trying to get back on the right side of history. We the people just have to forget everything they’ve been doing over the past decade.
It’s possible to be against kids getting surgery and also completely supporting trans people.
But Americans can’t handle nuance… which the same with every fucking issue.
(ALL POLICE ARE WONDERFUL vs DEFUND THE POLICE)
(ALL IMMIGRANTS ARE TERRIBLE vs NO BORDERS)
We’re completely fucked.
PinkandYellow dear, it’s also possible to accept that parents know what’s best for their children and if they agree with their child’s decision to transition, it’s no one else’s business. And if they are opposed to their child’s welfare, the state can and should step in.
“Parental rights” are not just about subjecting your child to religious nonsense and dread diseases.
Also, I know a little something about this process, as my former boss has a daughter who transitioned as a teenager. You can’t just traipse into a hospital and demand an operation like one would go into Tower Records and pick up the latest Debbie Gibson CD (I’m trying to relate to all the old people here). It takes a couple of years of therapy by professionals (not religious neurotics or bible-addled nitwits) to get to that point.
Basically, if you are not the child, their medical team, or their parents, it’s really none of your business.
A 16 year old can drive a 2 ton vehicle with nothing but their attention span, common sense and painted lines in the road being the only things that make it so they don’t accidentally kill everyone…
A 17 year old can sign paperwork getting a student loan that will literally ruin the rest of the entire lives
…and we still cut the foreskins off of boys that cant even walk or talk.
Make up your minds.
@19: “it’s really none of your business.”
That condescending retort doesn’t work anymore. As it’s totally against the grain of anyone who calls themself a liberal, democrat, or progressive.
When was the last time you heard a lib say things like…
Unless you’re a mother of a starving child in Gaza, it’s none of your business.
Unless you’re a mother with a child who’s been raped, abortion is none of your business.
Unless you have a kid, child abuse is none of your business.
I believe it was Mrs. Clinton who said “it takes a village”
Childrens had little choice. The mastectomies can wait.
@21: Ugh. Try reading Catalina better.
@22: I’ll try, but I can only read what is typed.
Phoebe dear, there’s one thing that can always be said for you: You are consistently tedious and seemingly exist to always miss the point. That’s part of your charm.
@19: “It takes a couple of years of therapy by professionals”
Really? That’s the way it used to be decades ago when only University hospitals were performing them. It has evolved (I agree that was too stringent) to the other extreme of only one or two approvals by a psychologist to get access to blockers or hormone therapy. Please correct me anyone.
Phobe dear, I can only speak from my experience as an observer, of course, but in this instance, it involved at least two years of fairly intensive counseling and several trips to the facility in Northern California where the work was done.
But tell me dear – on the one hand you thought that intensive therapy was “too stringent”, but you also feel that it shouldn’t be allowed? That seems intellectually inconsistent to me.
It is unfortunate that reporting on a hospital that has proudly offered a Gender Clinic, utilized by a large region of the United States and located in the most liberal part of the country, is attacked in this manner. Worse still is the opportunity for comments that lead primarily to misinformation but, at worst, to pure hatred and judgment.
Seattle Children’s has been under constant attack, including the most recent ‘call to action’ for hatred by LibsofTikTok. People have shown up at the front door trying to barge their way in to ‘stop mutilation’, protested outside of the windows of children with extreme medical conditions, and threatened staff.
Seattle Children’s is a HOSPITAL, not a new agency or social media site that seems to have more protections under the law.
I get it. You didn’t get a response from the hospital. Perhaps it is a complicated issue that is being reviewed to continue services without getting sued into the ground. You know, like the state of Texas tried to do last year?
I’m so sorry to hear that this young person cannot get the plastic surgery they want. If it was their nose, no one would say a damn thing would they. When kids have cancer and they have to remove breasts, nobody says a thing. This place is offering specialized care for children and has been an amazing benefit to this city for over 100 years.
🙃🙃🙃
Reading Helyn’s reaffirm my thoughts that there is no place for rational discourse with homophobic, bigoted, delusional people.
Hylen’s got a lot of sex problems. Quite common with conservatives. They’re all a bunch of perverts.
@30
their fixations
on bodily functions
will Never compensate
enough to overcome the
Evolution that brought us
Here — face it: to varied degrees
we’re all Animals tho some’re more
Filthy than others. they do their Damnedest
to dehumanize themselves & the Rest of us too.
Shame on Seattle Children’s. Here’s how you can let them know how you feel: https://monogr.ph/67a3f86c0b0ee042476f706c