Autistic teen reportedly got cross-sex hormones from Planned Parenthood ‘in little over 30 minutes’

An autistic teen allegedly received cross-sex hormones within minutes of his first consultation with Planned Parenthood, which claims to operate under an “informed-consent” model of care. Under that model, this top provider of so-called “gender affirming care” does not require a therapist to analyze the client and instead advises them that ‘You decide what’s best for you and your body.’

Fred, as he is referred to by the Washington Free Beacon (WFB), is an “18-year-old high school student in New Jersey and lives with his parents.” Fred announced he was transgender in December of 2022, at age 17.

Fred was “diagnosed with autism—technically ADHD with autistic traits—at age four, struggled with depression and anxiety as he got older, and was expelled from three different special-needs schools due to behavioral problems, stemming in part from an impulse control disorder,” the WFB claimed. “In late July, while his parents were out of town and after he had come of age, Fred went to Planned Parenthood, which prescribes hormones to any legal adult without a letter from a therapist or a formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The only requirement is a brief consultation, usually with a nurse practitioner, about the drugs’ effects, which range from mood swings and male pattern baldness to permanent infertility.”

“How brief?” WFB asked.

“Fred arrived at his local clinic, on North Fullerton Ave. in Montclair, New Jersey, at around 11:00 a.m., according to phone tracking data his parents used to monitor his whereabouts. By 11:39, they received a text message from CVS: Fred’s estrogen prescription was on its way. Instead of a months-long evaluation by expert psychiatrists, a nurse practitioner had, in little over 30 minutes, prescribed their special-needs son a powerful drug without their knowledge or consent,” the media outlet noted.

Fred’s parents eventually filed a complaint with New Jersey’s nursing and medical boards. The outlet stated:

Planned Parenthood violated the standards of care by prescribing Fred estrogen without a thorough psychiatric assessment, and that his autistic traits had inhibited his capacity to consent. It also questioned whether 30 minutes was enough time for anyone to think through the implications of a permanent loss of fertility.

Planned Parenthood’s Informed Consent Model: ‘You decide what’s best for you and your body’

Planned Parenthood clients claim the organization does little to no counseling before prescribing cross-sex hormones — something the WFB pointed out:

At least two high-profile detransitioners, Cat Cattinson and Helena Kirschner, received testosterone from Planned Parenthood after a 30-minute appointment, which, in Cattinson’s case, took place over the phone. Kirschner stopped taking testosterone once her mental health deteriorated; Cattinson, a singer, stopped after it permanently destroyed her singing voice.

Online, Planned Parenthood tells clients that their “initial appointment will include a review of medications and informed consent, an assessment of past and current health status, a physical exam based on your individual needs, and education about how to administer the treatment if that is something you are comfortable with. We then ask patients to come back at 3, 6, and 12 months, and once a year (or as needed) after that, if you choose to continue taking hormone treatment at our affiliate.”

This is what Planned Parenthood refers to as the “informed consent model” of care.

“Our hormone therapy uses an informed consent model. You do not need a diagnosis or therapist’s referral to receive care. We will inform you about the effects and discuss risks. You decide what’s best for you and your body,” Planned Parenthood writes in a patient handbook.

Cross-Sex Drugs Prescribed Immediately 

Online, clients of Planned Parenthood also confirm (here and here) the simplicity of Planned Parenthood’s “informed consent” model for obtaining these body-altering cross-sex hormones both in-person and telehealth calls which last less than an hour.

Planned Parenthood clients even state that they were able to obtain cross-sex hormones the same day as their visit.

According to Planned Parenthood patient handbook, during the first visit for cross-sex hormones, Planned Parenthood “will draw blood for lab tests… to monitor possible side effects of hormones” and will “check your hormone levels when you come in for follow-up appointments.”

Planned Parenthood will also ask about “transition goals,” claiming they “like to learn about your journey with gender, how your transition is going, and where you want to end up…[to] create a care plan that fits your needs.”

“We’ll talk about hormone therapy: What the effects and risks are. How you will take them. Answer any questions you might have,” Planned Parenthood stated.

The client will then “review [PP’s] informed consent form” where both parties will “go through the document together.” This includes:

• Risks

• Benefits

• Expected physical changes

• Expected time frame for changes

• Possible emotional changes

“If you are eligible, Planned Parenthood staff may be able to start hormone therapy as early as the first visit. Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas follows an informed consent treatment model, which means our patients will not be required to provide an approval letter from a therapist to begin hormone therapy,” Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas writes online.

Planned Parenthood’s previously mentioned patient handbooks also boasts that “Most of our patients can get a hormone prescription at the end of their first visit with us,” adding, “We’ll send your prescription electronically to your pharmacy. It may be available immediately, but supply issues or prior authorizations may cause delays.”

Planned Parenthood’s handbook also tells clients, “During your first year, we like to see you at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months for follow-ups… You will need periodic blood draws so we can monitor your hormone levels. We want to make sure you’re staying healthy on the medications we’re prescribing…”

The document adds that “If you’ve used your last refill and you wish to continue your prescription, you’ll need to schedule a follow-up appointment with us,” and adds, “If you want to change your dosage, switch to a different method of administration, or add/remove a medication, you’ll likely need a visit and labs first.”

Cross-Sex Hormone Drug Risks

According to the Office of Population Affairs (OPA), there are two kinds of so-called “gender-affirming” hormone replacement therapy treatments (HRT): “Testosterone hormones for those who were assigned female at birth” and “Estrogen hormones for those who were assigned male at birth.”

OPA is clear that these ”treatments” are only “partially reversible.”

“Hormones are taken in a variety of ways: injections, pills, patches and gels…” claimed Reuters.

An online Planned Parenthood form on female to male hormones (testosterone) and a separate consent form describing the risks of male to female cross-sex hormones (estrogen) reveals potentially serious risks.

Likewise, Cedar River, an abortion business in Washington State which commits abortions up to 26 weeks and offers transgender hormones, acknowledges on its website that “Being on estrogen increases your risk of high blood pressure, liver problems, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and gall stones.” In addition, it advises clients taking testosterone that “[i]t is important for you to know that the changes to your uterus and ovaries can make it difficult or impossible to have biological children. This reduced fertility can be permanent. There is no way to know for sure if you will regain full fertility, so you should plan ahead with the assumption that you won’t….” (emphasis added)

Cedar River Clinic documents identify other risks, writing (emphasis added):

There is very limited research on the long term effects of masculinizing hormone therapy but it’s always likely that it may worsen cholesterol problems, obstructive sleep apnea (along with the snoring that comes with it!), obesity, and acne. It is also believed to increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, and diabetes to be more like that of a cisgender male. You will have a higher risk of stroke, as testosterone can cause your blood to become thicker. With smoking, that risk becomes even higher… There has been no research on the long-term impact of hormone therapy on fertility, so we do not know if your fertility would return to normal after stopping hormone therapy.

Cedar River abortion facilities warns transgender hormone administration has risks

Planned Parenthood a Top Provider of Transgender Services 

In 2005, Planned Parenthood began offering cross-sex hormone therapy and since then transgender services have become a significant source of business for Planned Parenthood, which is a top provider of so-called “gender-affirming care (GAC)” nationally, mainly focusing on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to adults, 18 years of age or older.

And these cross-sex hormone services are increasing by hundreds of percentages at multiple Planned Parenthood affiliates.

So far, only a small number of Planned Parenthood affiliates openly provide the body-altering hormones to minors.

But the organization, which promotes the idea of changing gender anytime a person ‘feels’ like it, promotes the transgender agenda to minors and will refer them to places that are allegedly willing to hide these chemical prescriptions from parents.

And Planned Parenthood appears to have plans to expand its targeting of teens; a brochure uploaded by the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood affiliate claims to serve “patients 16 & older for HRT, with the hope to serve younger patients in the future.” (emphasis added)

SNN: Planned Parenthood to offer HRT therapy for transgender minors

In addition, Planned Parenthood, which is taxpayer-funded and which is largely intertwined with public school sex-ed, also openly promotes the use of puberty blockers to minors. So far, it appears that Planned Parenthood does not openly treat pre-pubescent children with puberty blockers, but doctors alleged to have worked for Planned Parenthood do.

The taxpayer-funded business is also among the organizations praising legislation seeking to codify minors’ access to transgender services by shielding providers — much like they did for abortion. In addition to Planned Parenthood, abortion facilities across the United States are also cashing in on the proliferation of transgender confusion.

Eroding Guardrails

The so-called “gender-affirming” movement masquerades as “health care” when in reality, it is profiting from experimentation on adults and children. Rather than investigating the causes of this new social contagion and treating or counseling the individual, the transgender agenda is affirming gender confusion and sending many adults and children alike on a conveyor belt of body-altering chemicals which sometimes leads to the surgical removal of healthy body parts.

“Fred’s story… is a microcosm of how the nation’s largest abortion provider is eroding the already thin guardrails on gender medicine in America,” The Washington Free Beacon wrote. “As waitlists swell at clinics like Children’s National, and as concern mounts about the perils of rushed transition, many young people are using Planned Parenthood to skip the line and circumvent the safeguards, making it much more difficult to gatekeep what was once a tightly regulated treatment.”

The ease at which Planned Parenthood prescribed these cross-sex hormones was criticized by former supporters like Erica Anderson, a former president of the US Professional Association for Transgender Health as well as Laura Edwards-Leeper, who co-founded the nation’s first pediatric gender clinic, at Boston Children’s Hospital, in 2007.

Edwards-Leeper told the Washington Free Beacon that Planned Parenthood has “taken on something that they are not equipped to handle.”

The WFB noted, “These doctors argue that Planned Parenthood, which relies heavily on nurse practitioners and employs few psychiatrists, is ill-equipped to handle complex cases like Fred’s. Its clinicians are not trained to assess patients’ ‘developmental trajectory,’ Anderson said, including the role social media or childhood trauma may be playing in their distress. Nor are they trained to consider the impact of autism, which often co-occurs with gender dysphoria and—according to multiple sets of clinical guidelines—warrants a more cautious approach to hormone therapy.”