Connecticut Children's Medical Center agreed to stop offering gender-affirming care to patients under 19 as part of a DOJ settlement tied to a broader probe that began in mid-2025. The department issued 20+ subpoenas but did not identify specific statutes; the hospital denies the allegations and the settlement is not an admission of liability. The deal includes an undisclosed penalty and an additional $500,000 earmarked for medical services for people described as suffering "harmful consequences" of such care, and follows similar agreements with other major hospitals amid wider federal policy moves.
DOJ Says Connecticut Children's Will Stop Providing Gender-Affirming Care To Minors Under Settlement
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Connecticut Children's has agreed to stop offering gender-affirming care to minors. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
The Justice Department announced that Connecticut Children's Medical Center has agreed to stop providing gender-affirming care to patients under 19 as part of a settlement that resolves a federal probe into clinics offering those services to minors.
Agreement Details
According to the DOJ, the investigation into doctors and clinics providing gender-affirming care to minors has been active since at least July 2025, when federal investigators issued more than 20 subpoenas. The inquiry followed an executive order from President Donald Trump directing the department to prioritize probes into alleged fraud, consumer deception and federal drug-law violations connected to such care.
The Justice Department did not name specific statutes or identify particular federal violations in its statement. It said Connecticut Children's denies the allegations and that the settlement does not constitute a finding of liability. Under the agreement, the hospital will pay an undisclosed monetary penalty and allocate an additional $500,000 to provide medical services for people described in the settlement as living with the "harmful consequences" of gender-affirming care; the DOJ did not provide further details about how those funds will be administered.
Medical Context
Major U.S. medical organizations support gender-affirming care, which encompasses psychological and behavioral supports as well as medical treatments; surgical procedures for minors are exceedingly rare. The article cites a 2024 Harvard study noting that cisgender patients were more likely than transgender patients to have undergone comparable gender-related surgeries, a statistic often referenced in debates over surgical interventions.
Policy And Political Context
The department's action follows a series of executive orders from President Trump aimed at restricting gender-affirming care for minors. On his first day in office he issued an order directing federal policy to recognize only male and female sexes as unchangeable, and eight days later signed an order titled "Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation," which directed agencies to withhold federal funds from providers offering puberty blockers and hormone treatments to people under 19.
In December, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed rules that could make performing gender-affirming care on minors a potential basis for denying a hospital participation in Medicare and Medicaid. The Connecticut Children's settlement follows similar agreements in which Texas Children's Hospital and Cleveland Clinic agreed to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors under DOJ scrutiny.
What Remains Unclear
- The DOJ did not specify which federal laws Connecticut Children's was alleged to have violated.
- The size and terms of the undisclosed monetary penalty were not released.
- Details on how the $500,000 will be allocated and which populations it will serve were not provided.
UPI has contacted Connecticut Children's for comment.
Help us improve.
