A young woman who underwent 'sex change' treatment sues the American Academy of Pediatrics for prioritizing ideology over children's health

Isabelle Ayala was 14 years old when she put herself in the hands of doctors and therapists to treat her depression. Instead of delving into psychiatric or psychological studies, health professionals prescribed gender reassignment treatment and proceeded to inject her with testosterone and begin a hormone program, following the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). As a consequence, Ayala now suffers permanent physical and psychological disorders that make her life as a woman difficult and have even compromised her fertility. Now 20 years old, Ayala filed a lawsuit against the institution and the doctors who treated her.

Ayala v AAP Complaint Stamped on Scribd

Serious permanent physical and psychological consequences

As a result of the treatment, "Isabelle is now twenty years old and longs for what could have been and to have her healthy, female body back. ... Isabelle has suffered from vaginal atrophy from the extensive use of testosterone; she deals with excess facial and body hair; she struggles with compromised bone structure; she is unsure whether her fertility has been irreversibly compromised; she still has mental health issues and deals with episodes of anxiety and depression, further compounded by a sense of regret; and she has since contracted an autoimmune disease that only the males in her family have a history of" according to the complaint, which was exclusively accessed by The Daily Wire.

The lawyers claim that Ayala is an "unfortunate victim of a collection of actors who prioritized politics and ideology over children’s safety." Therefore, they continue, she "brings this complaint against Defendants for civil conspiracy, fraud, medical malpractice, and other related causes of action in connection with their collective failure to treat her properly in the name of a so-called 'gender-affirmative' model of care, a then-new and experimental model of treating transgender and gender diverse children and adolescents that Defendants created, promoted, and have continued to advocated for despite (1) immediate criticism that its stated evidence base was misleadingly presented and/or failed to actually support any of its recommendations, conclusions, or proposed treatments, and (2) a growing international skepticism for the evidence base for the recommended interventions and concerns about their harms."

The APP 'failed to exercise any degree of institutional control'

The lawsuit says the AAP "failed to exercise any degree of institutional control over those ideological actors whom it had empowered." One of them, Dr. Jason Rafferty, an AAP member and one of the main promoters of gender reassignment treatments, treated Ayala when she entered a hospital at the age of 14 for having suicidal thoughts. After a brief conversation, Rafferty determined that the teenager "meets criteria to consider hormonal transition" and, along with other doctors, began the medication. Just six months after starting treatment, Ayala tried to commit suicide .

Ayala and other children 'victims of a conspiracy'

The lawyers highlight that the "policy statement" from the AAP laid the foundations for a "an entirely new model of treatment." However, the lawsuit continues, "Despite immediate and sustained criticism pointing out the misrepresentations and apparent lack of evidentiary backing in this policy statement, as well as a continually growing body of international research undercutting the policy statement’s conclusions and recommendations, Defendants have doubled- and tripled-down on their commitment to the policy statement and its “affirmative model” of treatment, while continuing to promote and profit off it." The complaint alleges that Ayala and others like her are "victims of a conspiracy entered into and perpetuated to the present day by certain ideologically captured individuals in positions of power at the American Academy of Pediatrics."