New figures indicate that Children’s Hospital Colorado, affiliated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, prescribed puberty blockers to over 250 patients and cross-sex hormones to nearly 550 patients in 2025. These numbers, revealed in recently unsealed court documents, are reportedly five to ten times higher than previously estimated.
An organization called Do No Harm analyzed insurance data for the hospital, finding that between 2019 and 2023, Children’s Hospital Colorado provided sex-change treatments, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, to just over 100 children. The reported numbers for 2025 show a substantial increase, with the hospital prescribing puberty blockers to twice the number of patients documented in the prior five-year period.
These treatments can involve multiple interventions, starting with puberty blockers to pause natural development, followed by cross-sex hormones to alter physical appearance, and potentially culminating in surgery. The court filings suggest that a large number of children received these interventions at the Colorado facility.
Do No Harm's broader analysis of insurance claims from children's hospitals and other facilities between 2019 and 2023 identified nearly 14,000 sex-change treatments. The organization estimates that between 20,000 and 25,000 American children may have received such treatments in recent years, acknowledging that not all claims were detectable and some facilities may use alternative diagnosis codes. The group contends that tens of thousands of children have undergone these treatments.
Further data from Oregon, analyzed in a study published in May, examined insurance claims for children aged 8 to 17 from 2016 to 2023. The study found that over 1 in 250 biological girls by age 17 took male hormones, and approximately 1 in 630 biological boys took female hormones. During this eight-year period, about 1 in 100 Oregon children covered by insurance were diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
In response to growing concerns, several Republican-led states have implemented bans on treatments for minors, and a Trump administration executive order initiated federal investigations into medical providers. Some children's hospitals, such as Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., have ceased offering these treatments. Proposed federal legislation, like the Chloe Cole Act, aims to ban puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors nationwide.