After reading a whistleblower’s “sickening” revelations about a pediatric gender clinic, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said his office was launching an immediate investigation of its practices.
“This is a sickening account of forced sterilization and child abuse,” Hawley said in a tweet on Feb. 9, attaching the lengthy whistleblower account of a former employee of The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital,
In an article posted by The Free Press, ex-case manager Jamie Reed calls for a nationwide halt to the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for transgender-identifying minors—practices that American lawmakers have attempted to ban in a number of states.
The Epoch Times attempted to reach a spokesperson at the St. Louis hospital, but a receptionist said that the media line was “busy”; the call then disconnected.
The hospital calls itself “the guardians of childhood.”
But Reed’s article, entitled “I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle,” asserts that children are being harmed at the gender clinic.
Reed’s article includes screenshots of emails in which she repeatedly expressed concerns over parents and children lacking full awareness of the possible consequences of these medical interventions. Reed was scorned for raising alarms.
‘Stop Questioning’
She describes doctors telling her and a colleague that they had to “stop questioning the ‘medicine and the science’ as well as their authority.”
Reed said she left her job at the clinic in late 2022 because she couldn’t stomach the “morally and medically appalling” effects on children.
During Reed’s four-year stint at the clinic, about 1,000 distressed youths came there seeking help; most of them were prescribed hormones “that can have life-altering consequences–including sterility,” Reed wrote.
She thinks a nationwide halt to transgender procedures for minors is necessary “given the secrecy and lack of rigorous standards that characterize youth gender transition across the country.”
Reed said she wanted to go on with her life after she changed jobs. But she but felt compelled to disclose the truth about her experiences after reading an October 2022 article from Reuters News Service.
Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender person who ranks highly at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “said that clinics are proceeding carefully and that no American children are receiving drugs or hormones for gender dysphoria who shouldn’t,” according to Reuters.
Reed’s response to the article: “I felt stunned and sickened. It wasn’t true. And I know that from deep first-hand experience.”
She said she began documenting everything she could about her experience at the Transgender Center. Then, a couple of weeks ago, she shared her account with Missouri’s attorney general. “He is a Republican. I am a progressive. But the safety of children should not be a matter for our culture wars,” she wrote.
The Epoch Times is seeking comment from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. The Free Press article included a link to a letter that Reed wrote to Bailey.
In the letter, Reed states that she witnessed treatments continuing on children despite adverse effects.
Reed concluded her Free Press article by stating that some people refer to transgender procedures being done on minors as “experimental.” She said that’s a misnomer because experiments should be ethical and well-thought-out—unlike these treatments for children.
Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.
The Biggest Threat to Your Retirement Is Actually a Very Good Thing
When you look at the headlines today, you’ll see experts in the retirement industry warning about big threats to your financial security:
- De-dollarization and the rise of BRICS
- Soaring national debt
- Unstable interest rates
- Weakened U.S. dollar
All of these are real concerns. But they aren’t the biggest threat to your retirement savings. The true risk isn’t political, monetary, or global.
It’s longevity.
Why Longevity Is the Silent Threat
For most of human history, the problem was the opposite — life expectancy was short, and few people even reached retirement. Today, thanks to medical advancements, healthier lifestyles, and better living conditions, people are living longer than ever before.
And while that’s a wonderful thing, it comes with a financial catch: Your retirement account has to last far longer than you might expect.
- A 65-year-old couple today has a 50% chance that one of them will live to 90.
- Some projections suggest that many of us will live well into our 90s, even 100+.
- This means your nest egg may need to stretch not for 15 years, but 25, 30, or even 40 years.
That’s where the real danger lies: running out of money before you run out of life.
The Retirement Equation Has Changed
While market volatility, debt crises, or central bank policies may feel like the scariest threats, they’re temporary storms. Longevity, however, is a structural shift. Every extra year of life is another year of expenses, another year of inflation erosion, and another year of financial pressure.
If your retirement plan doesn’t account for longevity, you could face tough choices later in life — downsizing, working when you’d rather not, or becoming financially dependent on others.
How to Take Control
The good news? Longevity is a blessing — as long as you’re prepared for it. With the right planning, your retirement savings can work for you instead of against you. The key is learning how to protect your wealth, outpace inflation, and ensure your savings grow even as you live longer.
That’s why our friends at Augusta Precious Metals created a free resource to help you get started:
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This brief report will show you practical strategies to safeguard your retirement from the biggest threat of all — the one that comes from the gift of living longer.
Don’t let longevity catch you unprepared. Take the steps today to secure tomorrow.