Vanderbilt shutters gender clinic for adults after halting child sex changes in 2022

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has announced that it will no longer provide transgender surgeries to adults after years of offering such services. 

On Friday, VUMC sent a message to patients through its health care portal confirming the changes. The center said that previously scheduled surgeries will proceed, but that it is not scheduling any new surgeries or consultations.

The healthcare system suspended transgender surgeries for children in 2022 after Tennessee enacted a state ban, which was later upheld in a Supreme Court ruling. In 2023, VUMC turned over its list of transgender patients’ health records to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. The medical center also ended its LGBTQ-specific health clinic last year.

The surgeries that will end will include orchiectomies, which are the removal of the testicles, and subcutaneous mastectomies, otherwise known as "top surgery." The decision follows pressure from conservative figures, including Senator Marsha Blackburn, as well as commentator Matt Walsh, who led an investigation into the clinic in 2022.

According to the Nashville Scene, Vanderbilt confirmed the move in a statement.

“Due to operational limitations and lack of surgical coverage, Vanderbilt Health will cease providing gender-affirming plastic surgeries for adults,” a spokesperson said via email. “Vanderbilt Health continues to provide nonsurgical gender-affirming care for adults 19 years and older. Vanderbilt Health does not provide any gender-affirming care for patients younger than 19. We are in the process of contacting our patients regarding these changes.”