WASHINGTON D.C. — In a major escalation of scrutiny surrounding so-called “gender affirming care” for minors, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), joined by the states of Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Alaska, has filed a lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). In the lawsuit, it alleges the organization misled parents, children, and medical providers about the risks, benefits, and necessity of chemical and surgical child mutilation.

For years, Independent Women, detransitioners, parents, whistleblowers, and medical experts have warned that vulnerable children were being placed on a medical pathway built on weak evidence, ideological pressure, and inadequate disclosure of long-term risks. Today’s lawsuit signals that those concerns are a part of a broader coalition that is at the center of a major federal consumer protection action.

This lawsuit comes on the heels of a July 2025 FTC Workshop filled with medical professionals, whistleblowers, and detransitioners and subsequent action by the FTC to seek public comment. Independent Women drove 15% of the total received by the FTC through its regulatory comment drive, Say NO to Mutilation: Abolish Medical Transition Abuse for Minors. 

Beth Parlato, senior legal counsel at Independent Women’s Law Center, applauds the move by the FTC saying, “WPATH built its influence on claims about pediatric gender medicine that were not supported by sound evidence and that minimized the serious risks of irreversible interventions on children. For years, Independent Women’s Law Center has warned that vulnerable children were being subjected to experimental treatments under the guise of established medical care. The FTC’s lawsuit represents a critical effort to expose the truth and hold the architects of this failed medical experiment accountable.”

Neeraja Deshpande, Independent Women policy analyst said, “By 2026, it is well-documented that WPATH has repeatedly lied to the public about the safety and efficacy of so-called gender transition on minors. The FTC’s lawsuit is a step in the right direction of ending medical experimentation on minors once and for all.”

According to the complaint, WPATH allegedly provided the framework that allowed providers to make false and unsubstantiated claims regarding the safety, effectiveness, and medical necessity of pediatric medical transition procedures. The lawsuit represents one of the most significant legal challenges yet to the medical establishment that has championed puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries for children experiencing gender-related distress.

Independent Women’s ambassador program has played an important role in elevating the stories and voices of detransitioners—young women and men who were misled by then-trusted medical professionals into undergoing life-altering interventions to appear as the opposite sex, and who now grapple with the physical and psychological consequences and complications of these medical decisions every single day. 

Independent Women Detransitioner Ambassadors React:

Prisha Mosley: “Detransitioners like me who were misled and harmed as vulnerable teens need someone to fight for us so that someone takes accountability for the damage, pain, and suffering that will last a lifetime. I was misguided about the hormone treatments and surgery I underwent when I identified as trans. Side effects and permanent consequences were hidden from me, and I was sold a lie. Someone needs to be held accountable.”

Luke Healy: “WPATH, which despite its name has nothing to do with professionals nor health. It is fortunate that in recent years their exposure has been propagated in more mainstream channels, and that we finally have governmental officials willing to attempt what should be just the start of actions against this notorious cabal. No reasonable person should feel at ease until the responsible members of that Association are held to account for their lies and deception which have destroyed the lives of thousands and done lasting damage to the foundations of our society.”

BACKGROUND:

In December, Independent Women applauded the Department of Health and Human Services for proposing several policy positions by moving to bar hospitals from performing sex-rejecting procedures on minors as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid, carrying out President Donald J. Trump’s executive order to end the surgical and chemical mutilation of minors.

In the summer of 2025, Prisha Mosley shared her story at the Federal Trade Commission’s workshop, titled “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors,” held in Washington, D.C.  The workshop aimed to shed light on the serious risks and false claims regarding so-called “gender-affirming care” and its harmful effects on consumers—particularly children.

Since 2022, Independent Women’s Features (IW Features), the grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm of Independent Women, has worked to expose the irreversible harm of so-called “gender-affirming care” through its “Identity Crisis: Real Stories About Escaping Gender Ideology” series. 

From “top surgery,” nipples peeling off, clitoral growth, trapped milk ducts, and hairy bodies, Identity Crisis documentaries bring to light the graphic stories of young adults now reckoning with the physical and emotional scars of gender ideology:

Direct media inquiries and booking requests to [email protected] 

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