A woman has spoken out about how her decision to transition to a male between ages of 12 and 16 caused irreversible health affects. On Thursday, de-transitioner Chloe Cole, 21, spoke in favor of new restrictions aimed to protect children from ‘sex-rejecting procedures.’
She appeared alongside HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other officials Thursday as the department unveiled policy updates and regulatory measures that would cut funding to hospitals performing gender transition procedures.
The proposed rules stem from President Donald Trump’s January executive order directing the agency to protect children from what he called ‘chemical and surgical mutilation.’
Cole began taking puberty blockers at age 12 and received a double mastectomy at age 15 to transition from female to male. After regretting her decision, she de-transitioning back to female at age 17.
In her speech, she said that once gender became part of the discussion, doctors and psychologists stopped asking the critical questions that might have changed her and her parents’ minds.
‘The entire focus was on my feelings and what I wanted, not what I truly needed,’ she said.
According to her, what she needed was love and affirmation for who she was: ‘a young, tomboyish little girl.’
Instead, Cole claimed doctors emphasized the ‘benefits’ of halting female puberty and starting testosterone injections – such as body hair, muscle growth, and fat redistribution – while failing to explain the risks.
‘There was nothing they could say to me that would make me understand the gravity of what I was about to go through, because I was still growing up,’ said Cole.
‘I had very little experience in the world, and I simply would not be mature enough to be equipped to undergo such a life-changing procedure in every way.’
She said her parents never believed she was transgender but felt pressured to support her wishes.
‘There were no resources that spoke to the reality of transgenderism for children,’ Cole said.
‘Most people were not aware then that this was something that was even happening in our hospital systems.’
She noted that her ‘legal guardians were forced to decide under duress,’ noting they were warned she might commit suicide if they refused.
‘No parent or adult should have the right to consent to chemically sterilizing or mutilating a child,’ she said.
Now, Cole said she faces lasting consequences. Her fertility is uncertain, and she will never breastfeed after having a double mastectomy.
‘As an adult, I’m grieving,’ she said, adding that skin grafts from her surgery began failing two years later, forcing her to wear bandages every day.
‘My quality of life is still being impacted.’
In 2023, Cole filed a lawsuit through the Center for American Liberty (CAL) against hospitals, alleging they pushed her into what she calls ‘medical mutilation.’
Mark Trammell, executive director of CAL, told Fox News Digital that Thursday’s HHS announcement ‘represents a critical acknowledgment that experimental medical interventions on children with gender distress have failed to meet basic standards of safety and effectiveness.’
‘It signals that medicine must return to its core ethical obligation: First, do no harm,’ Trammell added.
‘We will continue fighting to ensure accountability for the institutions that promoted these practices and to secure justice for the children and de-transitioners whose lives were forever altered.’
Dr Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also spoke at the event.
He argued that such procedures were prohibitively expensive, citing JAMA data that put the cost of a vaginoplasty, a surgery that rearranges genital tissue to create a vaginal canal and vulva, at about $60,000.
He further estimated that a phalloplasty, in which a penis is constructed using tissue from other parts of the body, could cost as much as $150,000.
Both procedures, he claimed, harm children while financially benefiting providers.
‘We’re not gonna let taxpayer money go to hurt these children, and no children will no longer be hurt by this ideology,’ Oz said. ‘We know that inflicting these procedures on young people costs them and the Medicaid system countless dollars, not just in medical bills, but all kinds of downstream issues, while providers reap the rewards.’
Cole said she hopes children questioning whether to transition take time before making any big decisions.
‘While there are only two sexes, there are a million different ways that you can be yourself,’ she added. ‘God is there for you. He is the one who has created you this way, and you can seek his counsel.’
‘You can continue praying, and I think ultimately it’s connecting with your family, building your purpose in this world, and looking to the gospel and up to God,’ she added.
Cole’s testimony comes as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced new federal actions aimed at curbing what the Trump administration calls invasive and irreversible gender procedures for minors.
The measures would restrict the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for children, particularly within federally funded or regulated healthcare systems.
Officials said the goal is to prioritize child safety, informed consent, and evidence-based medicine.
This is not medicine, it is malpractice,’ Kennedy said while outlining the policy direction.
He argued that children lack the developmental capacity to consent to irreversible transgender medical decisions and that the federal government has a duty to intervene when vulnerable populations face permanent harm.
Supporters argue that cases like Cole’s show the medical system rushed to treat childhood distress with drugs and surgery.
They contend that children struggling with body discomfort and gender dysphoria often need time, counseling, family support, and reassurance, not irreversible medical intervention.
New data has show a sharp decline in trans and queer identification among Generation Z since 2023, with the share of students identifying as non-binary or transgender nearly halving in two years.
