Center for Bioethics and Culture Applauds FTC Lawsuit Against WPATH for Deceptive Practices Harming Minors

For Immediate Release

June 17, 2026

Center for Bioethics and Culture Applauds FTC Lawsuit Against WPATH for Deceptive Practices Harming Minors

The Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC), which has long warned about the profound medical, psychological, and ethical harms of medicalizing gender distress in minors, strongly supports today’s action by the Federal Trade Commission and allied states against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The complaint alleges that WPATH promoted deceptive and unsupported claims regarding the safety, effectiveness, and necessity of medical “transition” interventions for minors, while minimizing serious risks including infertility.

For the last decade, highlighted in the three documentary films produced on the topic, the CBC has highlighted how WPATH’s “Standards of Care” (SOC-8) prioritize ideological affirmation over rigorous evidence, patient safety, and informed consent. The organization’s guidelines have enabled a rush to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors despite mounting independent reviews—such as the UK’s Cass Report—demonstrating weak evidence, significant risks, and the need for far greater caution. The FTC’s complaint echoes many of these concerns, alleging that WPATH’s guidelines and representations helped drive the expansion of a transition medicine industry while minimizing serious risks to children’s long-term health and fertility.

The FTC complaint meticulously documents WPATH’s deceptive representations that pediatric medical transition is “lifesaving,” safe, effective, and supported by strong evidence. In reality, WPATH has downplayed or failed to adequately disclose severe side effects, including impacts on sexual function, bone health, cardiovascular risks, and—critically—fertility. The lawsuit specifically calls out these failures in the context of transition medicine for minors.

The CBC first became concerned about the practice of pediatric “gender transition” when children were being counseled about fertility preservation before beginning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones—an acknowledgement that these interventions could compromise future reproductive capacity.

The complaint specifically addresses fertility-related harms associated with pediatric medical transition. It notes that WPATH’s own materials acknowledge that cross-sex hormones may cause infertility and impair reproductive function, while continuing to promote these interventions for minors. The FTC further alleges that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can interrupt normal pubertal development and, with continued use, suppress or eliminate a child’s future fertility and sexual maturation permanently. These are life-altering consequences that young patients cannot fully comprehend.

“Today’s lawsuit is a critical step toward accountability,” said Kallie Fell, Executive Director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture. “WPATH has positioned itself as the authority on ‘gender-affirming care’ while suppressing evidence, removing age restrictions for political reasons, and enabling clinicians to profit from interventions with life-altering, often irreversible consequences—including sterility and a reliance on another equally harmful industry- the fertility industry.

Families deserve truth, not marketing disguised as medicine. We urge policymakers, medical boards, and insurers to heed this complaint and protect minors from these harmful practices.”

CBC reaffirms its commitment to advocating for ethical, evidence-based approaches that respect human dignity, biological reality, and the right of children to grow up with intact bodies and futures. We stand with detransitioners, regretful families, and medical professionals sounding the alarm.