Schools should stop treating WPATH as the authority on children

Legislators, school boards and hospitals should stop treating the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) as an authority on children’s sex-change procedures. On November 10, 2026, Benjamin Ryan reported that a slide at WPATH’s conference in Mexico City showed membership falling 14%. WPATH’s 29th Scientific Symposium is running November 7–12, 2026, in Mexico City. The main symposium runs November 10–12². The slide listed 4,162 members in 2023 and 3,572 in 2025¹.

Ryan reported that past WPATH president Dr. Eli Coleman said in the same presentation that the organization needed to increase its numbers. Coleman blamed the decline on “the attacks WPATH has sustained.”¹ An organization losing 14 percent of its members in two years cannot credibly claim to speak for the families whose children it treats.

“greatly embarrassed the institution, revealing it suppressed evidence reviews about pediatric gender medicine when it didn’t like the results.”

WPATH leaders sought control of independent reviews

The Economist reported that Hilary Cass’s NHS England review had cast doubt on the evidence base for youth gender medicine. WPATH answered that its own guidelines were sturdier, in part because they were “based on far more systematic reviews.” Documents released in Alabama litigation show what those reviews went through. The Economist reported that the documents show WPATH leaders interfered with the systematic reviews the organization commissioned from Johns Hopkins’ Evidence-Based Practice Centre in 2018³.

3,572

In December 2017, WPATH executive director Donna Kelly told Karen Robinson, director of the Evidence-Based Practice Centre, that the board felt the researchers “cannot publish their findings independently.” Robinson replied that her understanding was Johns Hopkins would not sign a contract allowing a sponsor to stop an academic publication. The contract Robinson signed in May 2018 gave WPATH power to review and offer feedback on the team’s work, but not to meddle in any substantive way³. Parents deserve independent evidence, not a sponsor’s approval gate.

Six reviews produced only one published paper

After WPATH leaders saw two manuscripts submitted in July 2020, the organization adopted a policy giving it authority over the team’s output. An October 2020 WPATH email said research must be “thoroughly scrutinised and reviewed to ensure that publication does not negatively affect the provision of transgender health care in the broadest sense.”³

According to the documents, the team does not appear to have published anything else despite providing WPATH with material for six systematic reviews. The Economist reported that the team published only one paper after the policy took effect: a 2021 meta-analysis on the effects of hormone therapy on transgender people³.

The FTC and four states allege deceptive claims

On June 17, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission joined Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas in suing WPATH. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said the suit alleges WPATH made false and unsubstantiated claims about the necessity, effectiveness and safety of puberty blockers, hormones and sex-change surgeries⁴.

The complaint says WPATH removed age limits for breast amputation, penis removal and every other procedure except one genital surgery for girls in its 2022 standards. The complaint says one WPATH leader admitted to struggling to find sound evidence for removing those limits⁵. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird put it plainly: WPATH recommends permanent irreversible treatments and surgeries on children without solid medical science⁴. Parents were told to trust that standard, and the complaint asks a federal court to test it.

Blaming attacks does not answer the review record

WPATH calls the lawsuit’s claims “baseless” and accuses the Trump administration of abusing its authority⁶. Coleman attributes the membership decline to attacks. Ryan wrote that subpoenaed records “greatly embarrassed the institution, revealing it suppressed evidence reviews about pediatric gender medicine when it didn’t like the results.” Coleman blames attacks for the shrinking membership¹. They do not explain why WPATH’s leaders wanted approval over what researchers could publish.

Schools and hospitals should stop citing WPATH

School boards and hospitals should review every rule or practice built on WPATH’s standards for minors and put parental authority first. The FTC complaint is the place to test those standards, and families should not be asked to defer to WPATH while a court examines them. Parents are entitled to the evidence before any child is put on puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

Sources

1. @benryanwriter on X, 2026-11-10: NEWS: Membership in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) declined by 14%, from 4,162 to 3,572, between 2023 and 2025, per this slide from the organization’s conference, happening now in Mexico City. During this period, subpoenae, 2026-11-10
2. WPATH 29th Scientific Symposium - WPATH
3. Research into trans medicine has been manipulated | SEGM
4. FTC, States Sue World Professional Association for Transgender Health Over Deceptive Claims Regarding the Treatment of Children
5. FTC, States sue WPath over deceptive claims over 'Gender Affirming Care'
6. FTC sues World Professional Association for Transgender Health for deceptive practices - Christian Daily International