That dynamic has sparked criticism of the organization from an unlikely source: the liberal psychologist who helped bring pediatric gender medicine to the United States.
"I have always been a very strong supporter of Planned Parenthood and am pro-choice," said Laura Edwards-Leeper, who co-founded the nation’s first pediatric gender clinic, at Boston Children’s Hospital, in 2007. "But they have taken on something that they are not equipped to handle." The lack of gatekeeping is so bad, she added, that some of her patients received hormones from Planned Parenthood before coming to her for an assessment.
Others, like Erica Anderson, a former president of the US Professional Association for Transgender Health, say patients they’ve sought to delay from transitioning have simply turned to Planned Parenthood. "I’ve had patients desperate to get hormones where I’ve been the voice of caution," said Anderson, who is transgender herself. "In some cases, they say, ‘I’ll just go to Planned Parenthood when I’m 18.’ Usually I can dissuade them but sometimes I can’t."
Planned Parenthood is one of the largest providers of cross-sex hormones in the United States, and one of the fastest growing. Affiliates in the greater Portland area saw a nearly 400 percent increase in "gender-affirming care visits" between 2021 and 2022, according to their annual reports, while those in Ohio saw a 544 percent increase over the same period. Hormones now appear to be in higher demand than abortion at some branches: A Planned Parenthood in Knoxville, Tenn., told NPR that nearly a fifth of its patients sought hormone therapy in 2021, whereas abortion makes up just 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s services nationally.
This growth has come as pediatric gender clinics, which used to wait months before prescribing hormones, are becoming more laissez faire themselves. Some now prescribe hormones on the first visit, a Reuters investigation found last year, while others say ballooning caseloads have made it harder to conduct the kind of in-depth assessments once standard in the field.
