EXCLUSIVE–Paxton’s Historic Settlement with TX Children’s Hospital Leads to 1st Detransition Clinic

Texas Children’s Hospital has officially opened a medical clinic for patients seeking care after undergoing gender-transition interventions, fulfilling a requirement of a legal settlement that also required the hospital to pay $10 million, as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and Democrat James Talarico compete in a U.S. Senate race with contrasting records on transgender policies.

“BREAKING: The nation’s first-ever Detransition Clinic is now open as a result of my historic settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital,” Paxton wrote on X Tuesday.

The clinic will provide individualized, multidisciplinary detransition-related medical care to patients through age 21, along with detransition-related obstetric and gynecologic care for patients older than 21. According to Texas Children’s Hospital’s website, available specialties include endocrinology, surgery, primary care, fertility counseling, psychiatry, psychology, social work and case management, and speech pathology.

Patients can request appointments online and undergo an initial virtual triage visit to determine their medical needs. Care may be provided at different Texas Children’s locations depending on the services recommended by their medical team.

Under the settlement, Texas Children’s Hospital must provide the clinic’s services free of charge for five years and promote the facility on its website. The agreement also required the hospital to pay $10 million, permanently terminate the privileges of three current physicians, permanently bar two former physicians from obtaining privileges at Texas Children’s-affiliated facilities, and implement operational reforms, including employee training and restrictions on gender-transition procedures.

The settlement resolved allegations that Texas Children’s Hospital submitted false claims to government healthcare programs for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and other gender-transition treatments using false diagnosis codes. The allegations were investigated by Paxton’s office and the Department of Justice.

“I will continue to ensure that this clinic provides the care and support that victims of the radical left’s gender ideology deserve,” Paxton said in his October 27 announcement. “Together, we will protect our children and defeat the dangerous ideology that has inflicted irreversible harm on innocent kids.”

The settlement stemmed from a whistleblower complaint filed on behalf of Vanessa Sivadge, a former Texas Children’s Hospital nurse who raised concerns about the hospital’s gender-transition treatments and billing practices after observing that transgender-identifying patients continued receiving treatment in its endocrinology and gynecology departments despite a 2022 announcement that the hospital had discontinued gender-affirming care for minors.

Sivadge publicly disclosed her allegations in June 2024 and was subsequently placed on leave before being fired that August, a termination she has described as retaliation for whistleblowing.

Sivadge told Breitbart News, “The opening of the nation’s first dedicated detransition clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital represents a tangible step toward addressing the needs of patients who have undergone sex-rejecting medical interventions and now need care, support, and a path forward. This clinic is more than a provision in my legal settlement with the hospital. It is an acknowledgment that patients who need detransition-related care deserve to be seen, supported, and treated with dignity.”

“I am grateful to Attorney General Ken Paxton, the State of Texas, and the Trump administration’s Department of Justice for helping make this landmark outcome possible,” she continued. “I thank God for sustaining me through this journey. I did not write this story, and I could never have orchestrated its outcome. But I believe He has called me to walk it faithfully, to speak when silence would be easier, and to keep standing in the gap for children.”

“Today, I am profoundly grateful to see this milestone become reality,” she concluded.

The clinic’s opening comes exactly one week before the November 3 election, when Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico in a U.S. Senate race in which the candidates have taken opposing positions on gender-transition treatments for minors.

Paxton has challenged transgender policies for years, raising concerns about Fort Worth Independent School District’s transgender-identifying student guidelines over parental rights in 2016 and later suing Children’s Health System of Texas and pediatric physician Jason Jarin in February 2026 over allegations involving gender-transition drugs for minors and improper Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) billing. His office also sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in December 2024, accusing it of deceptive marketing practices for allowing transgender athletes born male to compete in women’s sporting events, which Paxton said jeopardized women’s “safety and wellbeing” by turning women’s competitions into “co-ed competitions.”

Talarico, meanwhile, voted against Texas Senate Bill 14 in 2023, legislation restricting certain gender-transition treatments and procedures for minors. During debate over the measure, Talarico argued that physicians had a “moral obligation” under the Hippocratic oath to treat children experiencing gender dysphoria and cited research that he said supported hormonal treatment for young people. “I’m asking us to follow that evidence, follow that science, and I’m disturbed that this body is not willing to let doctors make these decisions,” Talarico said. He also previously described denying children such treatments as “child abuse.”

Talarico has also characterized legislation restricting gender-transition healthcare for minors as part of a “Christofascism movement,” citing a bill that he said “would have denied gender-affirming health care to trans children.”

During a 2023 podcast appearance, Talarico expressed support for transgender-identifying children, saying, “I love — and I’m just going to say this because it’s on my mind — the trans children who showed up yesterday at the State Capitol to advocate for their humanity.” He added, “They shouldn’t have to, but it was an inspiration to watch.” In another discussion, Talarico said white men had “greater responsibilities to love our enemies” so that “trans kids” would not have to“advocate for their basic humanity.”

Talarico has also described sex education as “maybe the most important topic” students would learn in school while opposing parental opt-in requirements for the instruction. He also named Alyssa Edwards, a drag performer who operates the Beyond Belief Dance Company for young dancers and has incorporated children into drag-related performances, as his favorite drag queen.

In 2021, Talarico argued that “modern science” recognized six biological sexes, saying “sex is a spectrum and oftentimes it can be very ambiguous.” However, during a September 2026 Fox News interview, he walked back that assertion, acknowledging, “No, I’ve missed the mark on some of my past statements. I will be the first to admit it,” before clarifying, “There are not six sexes, there are two.”

He has also referred to women as “neighbors with a uterus,” declaring after the overturning of Roe v. Wade that “every one of our neighbors with a uterus became property of the state.”

Talarico previously voted against Texas Senate Bill 14, which restricted certain gender-transition surgeries and hormonal treatments for minors. However, in June 2026, he declared, “I oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors.” During a September Fox News interview, he expressed support for a national prohibition on such surgeries while defending his earlier vote, arguing that the Texas legislation was “overly broad.”

Talarico has also made differing statements about transgender-identifying male participation in girls’ sports. In 2021, he argued that “some things are more important than perfectly fair competition in sports.” However, during a September 9, 2026, Fox News interview, he said he would oppose transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports if their participation threatened safety or fairness, declaring, “Every sport has to be safe and fair.”

Four days later, Talarico told a woman posing as a supporter in undercover footage reported by Breitbart News, “The way I fought for trans kids in the legislature is how I will fight for them in the U.S. Senate. And my position hasn’t changed.” He also said decisions about transgender athletes should be made locally, “sport by sport, athlete by athlete.”

An archived version of Talarico’s state representative website said he had “led the fight against their efforts to bully trans kids,” language subsequently removed from his website, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

During an August appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show, Talarico defended his support for transgender-identifying individuals, saying, “I mean, I don’t think we win by selling people out. And we’re refusing to do that in this campaign.”

Talarico has also said Paxton and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) were not “in a position to tell anybody what a real man is,” arguing that “real men serve others” while “weak men serve themselves.” At the Texas Democratic Convention in June, Democratic land commissioner nominee Ben Flores defended Talarico, declaring, “Next time they say that James is trans, we’re all trans.”

Talarico’s record on transgender issues has also drawn criticism from detransitioners, including Soren Aldaco, who says she spent “four years” unsuccessfully attempting to speak with him about legislation concerning gender-transition treatments for minors.

Aldaco, 23, began identifying as transgender at 11, started testosterone treatment at 17, and underwent a double mastectomy at 19. She previously told Independent Women that complications from the surgery required emergency treatment to remove more than three cups of blood from her chest. Aldaco, who has since detransitioned, also testified before Texas lawmakers, declaring, “Children deserve better than plastic surgery and hormones. The gender-affirming care I experienced in adolescence was an elaborate placebo.” On June 26, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Aldaco had not missed the deadline to pursue her claims against a therapist and counseling provider, reversing a lower court’s finding that her lawsuit was barred by the state’s two-year statute of limitations for healthcare liability claims.

During an October 26 appearance on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” Aldaco said she tried to arrange an opportunity to question Talarico at an October 14 town hall hosted by CNN and Jubilee Media but was told the evening before that organizers could not get her into the room to speak with him. “He needs to have a long-form conversation, a real face-to-face with someone like me,” she said, explaining that she wanted to deliver her message “through conversation, which I think is most effective.” Aldaco accused Talarico of failing to acknowledge the consequences of his past positions, saying, “I tried to get in contact with you across five bills, four years and two sessions, and you wouldn’t talk to me about bills that would have even helped people who still currently identify as trans.” 

Detransitioners Claire Abernathy, Prisha Mosley, and Maia Poet also shared their perspectives on the clinic’s opening with Breitbart News, highlighting both its significance and potential limitations.

Abernathy, an Independent Women ambassador, was introduced to gender ideology through Instagram, Tumblr, and a middle school sex education class before beginning treatment with a therapist who “specialized in the gender field.” According to Abernathy, the therapist “made my parents feel very small, like they didn’t know their own child,” and warned them that failing to affirm her in her gender confusion would be abusive. She subsequently underwent hormonal treatment and surgery to remove her breasts, but later said she realized it had all been a mistake after reading the Cass Report, an independent review of pediatric gender services in England, and the WPATH files.

“Detransitioners have complex and unique medical needs which the providers we initially went to do not understand and often refuse to acknowledge or help us with,” Abernathy told Breitbart News exclusively. “The opening of the nation’s first clinic dedicated to addressing those needs represents a massive step towards addressing the harm that has been done to people like me and beginning the process of healing on a personal and societal level.”

Mosley, another Independent Women ambassador, began socially transitioning at 15, started testosterone injections at 17, and underwent a double mastectomy at 18. She has since described hormonal imbalances, reproductive health complications, and difficulties obtaining appropriate medical care following detransitioning, saying doctors often told her, “I don’t know,” and that her transition had made her a “lifelong medical patient.” Despite previously believing she was infertile, Mosley gave birth to a son on June 3, 2024, though she has described complications during her pregnancy and expressed sadness over her inability to breastfeed following her mastectomy, saying, “I’m just sad that I don’t get to choose that.” She has also filed a lawsuit against healthcare providers involved in her transition, alleging fraud and other wrongdoing related to her treatment.

“As a detransitioner, I know how difficult and also vital it can be to find care after iatrogenic harm,” Mosley told Breitbart News. “Finding the right care, and not more harm, is key to healing.”

“I am hopeful that this is what detransitioners like me will start to find at detrans clinics,” she added.

Poet spoke exclusively with Breitbart News about the clinic’s opening, addressing its age restrictions, available medical services, and the challenges detransitioners face in obtaining appropriate care. Her writing can be found on Substack.

Poet began identifying as transgender at age 12 and spent approximately a decade binding her breasts, which she said caused lasting complications involving her ribs, back, posture, and breast tissue. While living in Jerusalem during the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, Poet recalled fleeing to a bomb shelter without her chest binder as air raid sirens sounded, an experience she said prompted her to reconsider her transgender identity. She subsequently returned to the United States and detransitioned.

Explaining her concerns about the clinic’s age cutoff, Poet said individuals who begin transitioning as young as 12 or 13 may remain “persistent in their transgender identity,” and that “even as the regrets and the harms mount, they might not realize until much later that they’ve been harmed.”

“There are going to be years of trauma and processing and contending with everything that happened and dealing with all of these health issues,” she continued.

“And so, by the time you’ve done all that processing, most of these young people are not going to be 21 by the time that they realize they were harmed,” Poet said.

She also questioned how eligible patients would manage the practical challenges of obtaining care.

“How are they going to have the finances to get to this clinic? Who’s going to arrange housing for them? Who is going to ensure that they don’t get mistreated by this new set of doctors?” Poet asked.

Poet also addressed the medical specialties listed among the clinic’s services.

“If all we’re doing is focusing on puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries, and we’re not focusing on the injuries that come before that,” Poet said. “It’s not like once you get your breasts removed, you have undone the years of damage from breast binding.”

“I just think that’s a huge oversight,” she added.

Despite her reservations, Poet acknowledged the clinic’s potential for future growth.

“If it is existing as a starting point to expand, that’s awesome,” she said.

Poet further emphasized the difficulty of finding medical professionals capable of treating complicated, overlapping conditions.

“There’s going to be the damage from the breast binding and the damage from the mastectomy,” Poet explained. “You add testosterone to the mix, then you have the damages of testosterone, and all of this damage from all of these interventions, they can coalesce in ways that make it very hard to figure out what caused which injury.”

Poet also discussed the challenges patients with autism may face when communicating their medical needs to healthcare providers.

“People like myself, it’s often hard for us to accurately describe where our pain is, what’s causing our pain,” Poet said.

“If basically if the team of specialists does not know how to work with people who are autistic, they will be ill-equipped to serve a population of either transitioners or of detransitioners,” she added.

While outlining her reservations, Poet also offered a more measured assessment of the clinic’s opening.

“If I were to take the more celebratory position, I could also say that this clinic is a start that hasn’t really existed before,” she said. “So every project that’s going to get somewhere needs to be started somewhere and by someone.”

“Is this just going to be something that you do for a lawsuit and then you stop caring about the needs of the patient population, or is this actually something that is going to become its own medical field?” Poet asked.

“I hope it’s the latter, but I’m just not super convinced at the moment,” Poet said.

“I really hope that what Texas Children’s Hospital is doing is going to be a step in the right direction, so that you know young people like myself and like many of my friends, who were harmed by this in various ways and in various capacities, will have some some version of healing or justice  and be able to move on with our lives,” she concluded.