ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥 Jamie Reed, the former case manager whose allegations about a 蜜芽传媒 transgender clinic have spurred state and federal investigations, said she decided to go to the Missouri attorney general after finding herself up against enormous institutions in town.
鈥淚 am just one little person,鈥 Reed, 42, said Friday in an interview.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, both Republicans, have launched investigations into the Pediatric Transgender Center at 蜜芽传媒 Children鈥檚 Hospital after whistleblower Jamie Reed went public with accusations about patient care. (Google Maps)
She said establishing whistleblower status was necessary to keep her job at Washington University. She said she merely followed the advice of her attorneys on taking proper steps by contacting the Missouri attorney general.
鈥淧olitics aside, I am trying to follow our state laws and statutes regarding whistleblowers,鈥 Reed said. 鈥淲e live in a red state. I can鈥檛 control who the AG is at the time, or our state senators.鈥
Reed went beyond establishing whistleblower status. The Free Press, an online publication, published her in-depth, , without rebuttal, under the headline: 鈥淚 Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I am Blowing the Whistle.鈥
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鈥淚 wanted to be able to make sure my voice was part of the story and not only what the AG鈥檚 office was going to put out,鈥 Reed told the Post-Dispatch about the article.
Reed worked at the Washington University Transgender Center at 蜜芽传媒 Children鈥檚 Hospital as a case manager between 2018 and 2022, including doing in-take. She alleged in the article that 鈥渧ulnerable patients鈥 were permanently harmed in various ways, due, in part, to a 鈥渓ack of formal protocols for treatment.鈥
She alleged that instead of providing mental health treatment to children who needed it, the center easily gave them puberty blockers, which pause the physical change of growing up, or cross-sex hormones. She alleged cases moved forward despite disagreements between parents about their child鈥檚 need for gender-affirming care.
In her sworn affidavit, released Thursday by the attorney general鈥檚 office, she alleged the center regularly referred minors for gender-transition surgery, contrary to public assurances by its doctors.
Reed, who describes herself as a progressive queer woman married to a trans man, alleged there wasn鈥檛 a place for constructive feedback at the center.
鈥淎nyone who raised doubts ran the risk of being called a transphobe,鈥 she wrote.
The story drew immediate response Thursday from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who said his office was launching an investigation. Washington University, in a statement Thursday, said it was alarmed by the allegations and was looking into the matter. In a letter on Friday to Trish Lollo, president of Children鈥檚 Hospital and Andrew Martin, chancellor of Washington University, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey recommended an 鈥渋mmediate moratorium鈥 on the center prescribing puberty blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to new patients.
鈥淎 moratorium will ensure children remain safe as the many investigations 鈥 including your own 鈥 progress,鈥 Bailey wrote.
Washington University didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Major medical organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society, endorse puberty blockers and hormone treatments as best practices in the care of transgender children. They say the mental health ramifications of not addressing the needs of such patients put them in peril, including heightened risk of suicide.
Susan Halla, board president of TransParent, a national organization founded in 蜜芽传媒, said Friday by telephone that Reed鈥檚 allegations were a shock.
鈥淭his is not at all my experience and not the experience of my peers,鈥 Halla said. 鈥淲e all know this person. We are heartbroken and blindsided about where this is coming from.鈥
Halla said her son first came to the center when he was 15. She said he didn鈥檛 start receiving testosterone, a cross-hormone medication, until he was 17.
鈥淗e did receive surgery, but not until the age of 18 because 蜜芽传媒 Children鈥檚 Hospital transgender center will not provide surgery under the age of 18,鈥 Halla said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the colors of the trans flag,鈥 said a 7-year-old transgender girl, who made a Valentine for the transgender community during a Love Letters & Advocacy hour sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and PROMO, a Missouri advocacy group for LGBTQ equality, on Friday at the Living Room in Maplewood.
Jerry Hutter, of 蜜芽传媒 County, also said she was surprised by what Reed wrote about the center.
鈥淚t was over-the-top, over-exaggerated,鈥 Hutter said of the article. 鈥淢y daughter and my granddaughter are totally happy with their care there.鈥
Hutter said her granddaughter had already decided she was transgender when she started going to the center more than one year ago. She said her granddaughter hasn鈥檛 had surgery, but she gets medications and therapy that both of her parents agreed on. She described the treatment as 鈥渓ife-saving鈥 because her granddaughter was previously suicidal.
鈥淭here was no coercion. It was we have the care you need. You make those decisions,鈥 Hutter said.
Asked on Friday, given strong reactions to her story, if she was glad she鈥檇 publicly come forward, Reed told the Post-Dispatch: 鈥淚 want to see the kids protected. I wish there was another route to do that, but I tried those.鈥
Asked what she wanted done, for instance if treatment should be available only after a certain age, or if there should first be a more established body of research, which she explored in her story, Reed declined to comment. She referred follow-up questions to her attorneys, Ernie Trakas, the Republican 蜜芽传媒 County councilman, and Vernadette Broyles, of Norcross, Georgia. Broyles is president and general counsel of the Child & Parental Rights Campaign, which to respond to a 鈥渞adical new ideology鈥 leading children to believe they could be 鈥渂orn in the wrong body.鈥
During a virtual event Thursday night hosted by The Free Press, Reed said the Transgender Center needed to be shut down.
鈥淚 do not believe it can continue to function,鈥 Reed said. 鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 the only way to actually stop hurting more kids.
鈥淚 have a master鈥檚 degree in clinical research management,鈥 she said. 鈥淜nowing what I know about clinical research, I think that we need a moratorium and we need to go back to square one.鈥
She said parents said they felt bullied into signing off on treatment.
鈥淭hey would say things like 鈥榶ou鈥檙e going to do this anyway. I don鈥檛 really have a choice. I feel like I鈥檝e been bullied.鈥 鈥 And somehow the doctors thought that that was a true, good consent.
鈥淭he thing that really irritated me often is when the parents would say no. To me, parent says no, you back off,鈥 Reed said. 鈥淎nd that was not what happened. If a parent said no, these doctors would push and push and push and push.鈥
Reed said physicians believed their approach was grounded in evidence, and that they would emphasize positive patient outcomes.
鈥淭here was no data actually being collected and no actual statistical view,鈥 Reed said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 actually make those claims.鈥
Reed said she and one other staff member would 鈥渁sk and push and ask and push and then we would be told, 鈥榳ell you have to show us specific cases,鈥 and then we would show them specific cases and within our own center,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t did begin to feel like I was in a cult and had to like deprogram my way out of it.鈥
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In this Series
Coverage of the Washington University Transgender Center
Jesse Bogan
Metro reporter
Jack Suntrup
Jefferson City reporter
