Washington University is “alarmed” by allegations by a whistleblower who worked at its transgender clinic at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and vowed to “get the facts”.
Jamie Reed, a former employee of the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, said working there was like working “in a cult” and that what was being done to children was “morally and medically appalling.”
Following the publication of the article, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey confirmed that his office was launching a full investigation into the clinic following Reed’s allegations, which he described as “troubling.”
Senator Josh Hawley’s office has also launched an investigation.
Senator Josh Hawley’s office has also launched an investigation into the troubling claims
Jamie Reed (pictured) said she took the job with the intention of “rescuing” transgender children but believes what is happening is “permanent harm” to young, vulnerable children
Bailey said his primary goal is to ensure children are not harmed by “individuals who care more about a radical social agenda than about children’s health.”
In her affidavit, Reed said that in one case, a girl was prescribed cross-sex hormones because she didn’t want to get pregnant.
“There was no need to put this girl on cross-sex hormones. What she needed was basic sex education and maybe contraception,” she said, adding that a basic evaluation of her case would have revealed that.
“But because doctors automatically prescribe cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers to children who meet the absolute minimum criteria, this girl was unnecessarily given drugs that irreversibly alter the body.”
She claimed that in another case, a patient asked to have her breasts removed and had surgery at St. Louis Children’s Hospital – but just weeks later, the woman asked to have them “put back on.”
Reed concludes that a proper assessment was not made and the patient was not properly informed that the changes, according to the document, were irreversible.
The former staffer added: “Three months later, the patient contacted the surgeon and requested that her breasts be ‘reapplied’. Had a necessary and appropriate examination been performed prior to the procedure, physicians could have prevented irreversible surgical changes in this patient.’
The whistleblower, who first came to The Free Press, attached a list of outlandish requests that children came to the center with, allegedly being consulted by doctors and then prescribed opposite-sex treatment.
Reed claimed Dr. Allison Snyder-Warwick (left) performed sex reassignment surgery at the center. dr Chris Lewis (right) is named in the affidavit for allegedly giving young patients bicalutamide, which can cause liver damage
Attorney General Andrew Bailey said: “We take this evidence seriously and are investigating thoroughly to ensure children are not harmed by those who may care more about a radical social agenda than about children’s health.”
She said: “Children come to the clinic using pronouns for inanimate objects such as mushrooms, rocks or helicopters. Kids come into the clinic and say they want hormones because they don’t want to be gay.
“Kids come in and change identities every day. Children come under clear pressure from a parent to identify themselves in a way that is inconsistent with the child’s actual identity.
“In all of these cases, doctors decide to administer puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.”
Reed claimed the hospital’s public claims that it did not perform sex reassignment surgeries on minors were a lie.
“The center regularly refers minors for sex reassignment surgeries,” she said. “The center routinely releases surgeons’ names and contact information to anyone under the age of 18.
“At least one sex reassignment surgery has been performed by Dr. Allison Snyder-Warwick at St. Louis Children’s Hospital,” Reed claimed.
In another shocking claim, Reed claimed that a 17-year-old patient was brought to the clinic by a man – to whom he was not related. The teenager lived with the man.
The teenager started taking hormones “as soon as they turned 18”. But the patient’s mental health deteriorated very quickly – and Reed claims it was soon revealed that the man who originally brought the child to the clinic was sexually and physically abusing him.
Although the center learned of the alleged abuse of power, it has not discontinued sex reassignment treatment, the affidavit said.
Jamie Reed worked at Washington University’s Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital between 2018 and November 2022
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey confirmed his office is launching an investigation into the hospital following Reed’s claims, which he described as “troubling.”
Reed worked at Washington University’s Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and was responsible for patient enrollment between 2018 and November 2022.
Reed said she took the job at the center with the intention of “saving” trans children, but she believes what is happening is “permanent harm” to young, vulnerable children.
After four years, she says, she was convinced the clinics were harming children and families whose understanding of the reality of the medical side effects involved was woefully poor.
Doctors acted as if they had more decision-making power than parents, Reed says, and only one parent’s consent is required for minors.
Reed cites examples where a 17-year-old girl’s birth canal was allegedly “ruptured” when she had sex while taking testosterone to become a man, unaware that the drug would cause profuse bleeding if she had sexual intercourse.
In other scenarios, she claims that teenage girls were scared when their clitoris turned into micropenis while taking the drugs.
Some psychiatrically “disturbed” children from juvenile detention centers were also presented because they had “eventually” expressed an interest in sex reassignment.
The doctors I worked with at the transgender center often said about treating our patients, ‘We build the plane as we fly it.’ No one should be a passenger on a plane like that.’
Among those patients, according to Reed, was a boy who had sexually abused dogs.
“Sometime along the way he expressed a desire to become a woman, so eventually he was seen at our center.
“The way the American medical system treats these patients is the opposite of our promise to ‘do no harm’.”
“Instead, we permanently harm the vulnerable patients in our care… what is happening to dozens of children is morally and medically appalling.”
She describes a sudden, sharp increase in the number of young girls “craving testosterone,” sometimes presenting themselves as “clusters” from the same schools.
Reed noted a “lack of formal protocol” at the center and that doctors ignored the fact that young girls were lying about other illnesses and prescribing them hormones.
She reveals that for a young girl to begin transitioning to a man, all she had to do was see a clinic-recommended therapist once or twice and receive a letter of support for her decision.
According to Reed, this therapist was often given a template for the letter written by the clinic.
“Often our patients said they had disorders no one thought they had.
“We’ve had patients who said they had Tourette’s syndrome (but they didn’t); that they had tic disorders (but did not); that they had multiple personalities (but they didn’t).
What is bicalutamide?
Bicalutamide works by blocking the action of the male hormone androgen.
It is marketed under the brand name Casodex.
The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2008 to treat prostate cancer.
It blocks receptors in the central nervous system and male reproductive system that are responsible for the production of androgens.
The hormone helps encourage prostate cancer cell growth, and cutting it off can stop the spread of the disease.
In recent years, the drug has also been used off-label for transgender children and adolescents.
When used in this way, bicalutamide is sometimes referred to as a ‘puberty blocker’.
By stopping the release of androgen in a young person, the drugs can also prevent biological boys from becoming men.
Androgen is a key hormone during puberty that leads to a deep voice, Adam’s apple, facial and body hair, and the growth of the penis and testicles.
Similar blockers also exist for women, preventing the development of breasts and other female characteristics.
The drugs were safe to use and had to undergo a rigorous pre-approval process.
However, there is little information about its long-term physical and psychological effects when used in children.
The effects are not believed to be permanent, but it takes years for the body to return to previous levels of hormone secretion after stopping the drugs.
“Doctors privately recognized these false self-diagnoses as a manifestation of social contagion,” says Reed.
“They even acknowledged that suicide has an element of social contagion. But when I said that the groups of girls who flock to our ministry looked like their gender issues could be a manifestation of social contagion, the doctors said that gender identity reflects something innate.
Reed says she was hesitant to voice her concerns because anyone who did so was considered a “transphobe.”
She describes how she warned young girls about the lingering physical effects of taking testosterone hormones — including sterility — but how they failed to understand the seriousness of what they were doing.
“Teenagers just aren’t able to fully comprehend what it means to make the decision to become infertile while still a minor,” she writes.
“The center downplayed the negative consequences and stressed the need for a transition.”
She lists an example of a young boy who wanted to become a woman. Neither he nor his family “understood” the serious effects of bicalutamide, one of the prescribed drugs he was receiving.
Bicalumatide is used primarily to treat prostate cancer and can lead to liver toxicity – which was the case in this child.
It is commonly prescribed as a feminizing trans drug.
In the case of this child, he ended up in the hospital. According to Reed, his parents threatened a lawsuit, which colleagues had said the child was unwilling to undergo therapy because neither he nor his family fully understood the drug’s side effects.
One of the doctors at the center, Dr. Chris Lewis, named in the affidavit, allegedly gave young patients bicalutamide.
Reed claims that the adult medical center at Washington University doesn’t even associate or use bicalutamide with any risks because of its risks and issues — but the center that treats children does.
Another teen who took testosterone to transition from female to male was unaware that the hormone was thinning her vaginal tissue.
After sex, she began bleeding uncontrollably, soaking through her jeans and a towel, before being rushed to the emergency room, where she was sedated and had vaginal surgery.
“Clinics like the one I’ve worked at are creating a whole cohort of children with atypical genitalia — and most of these teenagers haven’t even had sex.
“They had no idea who they would be when they grew up. But all it took for them to make lasting change was a quick talk or two with a therapist,” Reed writes.
She also adds emails from concerned parents withdrawing their consent to the drugs and procedures after their children have become “shells” themselves.
“Who knows if it’s the hormone blockers or the other medications. I revoke my consent. I want the hormone blocker removed,” one mother wrote.
Reed also describes a frightening lack of consultation with both parents.
She gives the example of a family where a father and mother were in the midst of a divorce and the mother advocated for her 11-year-old daughter to receive puberty blockers to help her transition into a man.
Reed said she found the mother “troubling” and thought the child didn’t meet the initial criteria for the transition when she interviewed her.
Weeks later, the mother returned to the clinic with different answers to Reed’s questions, and her colleagues approved the girl’s transition.
A judge then sided with the mother in court and allowed the child to move on despite strong protests from her father.
In 2019, Reed noted that she’s noticing a growing number of patients choosing not to make the transition or choosing to revert to their former gender.
She and her colleague began collecting information about these patients, assuming that the doctors wanted to know about their change of heart.
“We thought doctors would want to collect and understand this data to find out what they were missing.
‘We were wrong. A doctor wondered aloud why he would waste time with someone who was no longer his patient.’
She and her colleague created a “red flag list” to track children who have changed their minds.
The hospital released a statement saying it was investigating the allegations.
“We are alarmed by the claims in the article published by The Free Press describing practices and behavior observed by the author while employed at the university’s transgender center,” they said. “We take this matter very seriously and have already begun investigating the situation to establish the facts.
“As always, our top priority is the health and well-being of our patients. We are committed to providing compassionate, family-centered care to all of our patients, and we hold our physicians to the highest professional and ethical standards.’
Reed was transferred from the transgender center to another department in November 2022.
She says the hospital’s doctors are treating the problem of teenage transition as an “experiment.”
“Experiments should be carefully planned. Hypotheses should be ethically tested.
“The doctors I worked with at the transgender center often said about treating our patients, ‘We build the plane while we fly it.’
“No one should be a passenger on an airplane like this.”