The Department of Justice in Washington on Feb. 21, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Aug. 5 that Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has agreed to stop providing “gender-affirming care” to minors, making it the third hospital to reach such an agreement with the DOJ as part of the department’s nationwide investigation into the practice.
The agreement requires Connecticut Children’s to stop offering what the DOJ describes as “sex-rejecting procedures” for minors, the DOJ said.
The hospital will not administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and will also stop performing surgeries on children and adolescents, according to the DOJ.
Connecticut Children’s has also agreed to pay an undisclosed monetary penalty and provide an additional $500,000 in medical care for individuals living with the harmful consequences of gender-affirming care, the DOJ said.
“The Department of Justice will stop at nothing to protect America’s children,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement. “This resolution is a reminder to hospitals, medical providers, and pharmaceutical companies that the Justice Department will vigorously enforce federal law, especially where the lives of children are endangered.”
A spokesperson for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center confirmed to The Epoch Times that it has reached a resolution that “allows [the] organization to remain focused on [the] mission of improving the health and well-being of children.”
“Most importantly, patient privacy remained our foremost concern throughout this process and we were able to resolve this matter without disclosing any protected patient information to the U.S. government,” spokesperson Monica Buchanan said in an email.
The hospital joins Texas Children’s Hospital and Cleveland Clinic in reaching similar resolutions.
The DOJ has launched a broader effort targeting pediatric gender-related medical treatments, saying that providers may have violated federal law in connection with those services. Previous agreements with Texas Children’s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic included commitments to stop providing such treatments to minors, along with financial penalties and funding for care for patients seeking to reverse previous treatments.
“This resolution reaffirms our unwavering commitment to safeguarding America’s children,” said Ryan Raybould, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, in a statement. “When unsafe medical practices put minors at risk or violate federal law, the Department will act swiftly and decisively to protect them and hold every institution accountable.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has been critical of the DOJ’s efforts to stop gender-related treatments for children. The American Civil Liberties Union Ohio said in a statement in June after the DOJ’s agreement with the Cleveland Clinic that the agreement will “withhold, for at least the next 20 years, science-based, gender-affirming care to children and families in need.”
States have been passing laws since 2021 to ban transgender medical interventions on minors, before President Donald Trump in 2025 issued a wide-ranging executive order to guard against what he calls “surgical and chemical mutilation” of children.
A wave of clinic closures and increased restrictions followed, buoyed by a mid-2025 Supreme Court ruling that upheld Tennessee’s statewide ban on medical transitions for minors. And this year, in a landmark verdict, a New York state jury awarded a woman $2 million in a gender transition medical malpractice case; many similar cases are pending.
Janice Hisle contributed to this report.
