Advocate Health ends child sex changes in Illinois

"We recognize that this is a deeply complex issue, and this decision was made after a multi-disciplinary team spent numerous hours carefully considering the options and outcomes," Advocate Health said in a statement obtained by the Chicago Tribune. The policy shift aims to ensure that "our hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies can continue caring for all patients' health needs in the changing federal environment."

Advocate Health operates 69 hospitals across six states, with the Illinois branch of the hospital system, Advocate Health Care, providing 11 hospitals and 200 sites of care in Illinois, making it one of the largest health providers in the state.

Other Chicago-area health systems have taken similar steps, including UI Health, which banned sex change surgery for adolescents on August 1, 2025, and UChicago Medicine, which stopped providing all pediatric gender transition services in July. Rush University Medical Center and Lurie Children's Hospital have stopped doing similar surgeries on children, with Rush and UChicago also discontinuing hormone replacement therapy and other gender transition drugs for people under 18, CBS News reported.

Advocate Health stated that it has been contacting patients impacted by the change, including establishing a dedicated hotline for counseling services. Trans rights advocacy groups have expressed disappointment, with Asher McMaher, executive director of Trans Up Front Illinois, telling the Chicago Tribune, "We know [sex change procedures] is proven to save the lives of children, and that's what these medical institutions are supposed to be doing."

The policy shift comes after the United States Department of Justice said last month that it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics that perform "transgender medical procedures on children." US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news release at the time, "Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice."

The Justice Department's investigations include healthcare fraud, false statements, and more, the agency said. Shortly after entering the White House in January, President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting hospitals from providing sex change procedures for anyone under the age of 19.