The Federal Bureau of Investigation is encouraging the public to report health care professionals who provide gender-affirming care to minors.
In a post on X on Monday, the agency said, "As the Attorney General has made clear, we will protect our children and hold accountable those who mutilate them under the guise of gender-affirming care."
It encouraged people to report "hospitals, clinics, or practitioners performing these surgical procedures on children."
Gender-affirming care includes mental health care, treatments like puberty blockers or hormone therapy and, in rare instances, surgery for those diagnosed with gender dysphoria. But it's something that is hardly ever done with children and handled on a case-by-case basis.
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It's not illegal to receive gender-affirming care, but there are some states that restrict access to it for minors.
Doctors who spoke with the Scripps News Group in the past said providers will not consider gender-affirming medical treatment for kids who have not begun puberty. At most, they can offer family counseling or support.
"No one is walking into a visit and then walking out with the hormone prescription that same day. The other thing that takes time is actually getting into the clinic," said Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, Medical Director of Children's Minnesota Gender Health Program, in a previous interview with the Scripps News Group. "Just to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, you have to have symptoms or be experiencing distress for six months or longer. So at a minimum, it's a months-long process. But I would say in many cases a years-long process."
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The Trump administration has made it a mission to halt gender-affirming care for minors, despite it being a rare occurrence.
After a few days in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19.
A second federal judge put a pause on the executive order back in February.
