Across the United States, hospitals and policymakers are reconsidering whether to provide gender-affirming care, with some, like Children’s Hospital Colorado, abruptly halting it. Decisions about a child’s health should be made by parents, their child and doctors — and we should all be alarmed if the government starts taking that autonomy away.
When a hospital abruptly cuts off lawful care for transgender kids, it tells us that our lives are expendable and not worth as much as another child. This is a dangerous slope that has a real impact, causes real harm, and it is discriminatory, violating Colorado law.
Gender-affirming care saved my life and the lives of many. It allowed me to grow into the successful and fulfilled woman I am today.
I began socially transitioning when I was nine years old. Even at that age, I knew something fundamental about myself: I felt more like a girl than a boy. My family listened. My doctors listened. And that is where this decision should remain: with parents, people like health providers and me. I was able to begin the journey toward becoming comfortable in my own skin. I was among the first patients to receive care at the TRUE Center for Gender Diversity at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
What many people don’t realize is that gender-affirming care is not a single appointment or a rushed decision. It is a thoughtful, medically guided process approved by leading medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. It involves multiple professionals working together to support a patient’s health.
My journey began with a licensed psychologist who helped me understand my feelings and talk openly about who I was. Later, I was referred to a gender-affirming care specialist who explained how medical transition works and helped determine when I was ready to begin treatment. My care followed established medical standards informed by scientific research and clinical experience supporting transgender patients.
Throughout my transition, my care involved many professionals working together to ensure my safety and well-being. My gender-affirming care specialist coordinated with my pediatrician to monitor my health and conduct blood work. Nurses, therapists, pharmacists, and other providers all played important roles in my care.
Gender-affirming care is often described as controversial. But in practice, it looks like what good health care should be: careful, collaborative, and focused on the needs of the patient.
Medical professionals are only one part of that support system.
When hospitals stop providing gender-affirming care, the consequences ripple far beyond a single clinic or appointment. It disrupts networks of care that help transgender young people stay healthy. It creates uncertainty for families trying to do what is best for their children. And it sends a message to transgender people that their health care is negotiable and lives are expendable.
But for many of us, it is essential.
Gender-affirming care gave me the chance to grow into adulthood feeling comfortable in my own skin. Access to gender-affirming care made it possible for me to live as the woman I always knew I was.
Without that care, my life would look very different.
Every young person deserves the chance to grow up healthy, supported, and able to live as their authentic self.
Colorado has been my home since I was born. Denver has generally been embracing and inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community. Today, because Children’s Hospital Colorado has given into the pressure of the government to halt gender-affirming care, we feel completely abandoned and scared.
Health care is a legal duty — not a risk calculation. No child’s care should ever be sacrificed for political reasons and put in harm’s way.
Jude Clinchard is a Colorado resident and transgender advocate who has spoken publicly about the importance of access to gender-affirming health care.
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