What happens when a pediatric endocrinologist watches gender medicine evolve from underground experiments to mainstream practice—and fights back? Dr. Quentin Van Meter has been there since the beginning: treating his first trans-identified child in 1993 when no guidelines existed, witnessing John Money's perverse theories firsthand at Hopkins, watching WPATH transform into what he calls "a cult religious group with a bibliography of scientific trash." In this explosive episode, he reveals how puberty blockers cause dementia risk, why 98% of blocked kids proceed to cross-sex hormones, and the moment Money tried to castrate a baby who had normal testosterone.
About Dr. Quentin Van Meter
Dr. Quentin Van Meter is a pediatric endocrinologist with over 40 years of clinical experience, currently practicing in Atlanta. Former president of the American College of Pediatricians, he witnessed the birth of pediatric gender medicine firsthand during his fellowship at Johns Hopkins, where he directly confronted John Money's experiments. His 2018 talk "The Terrible Fraud of Transgender Medicine" became influential in exposing WPATH's lack of scientific basis. He will present on the impact of hormones at Genspect's Albuquerque conference.
The First Case: 1993's Medical Wild West
A 13-year-old boy arrives at Van Meter's office, socially transitioned by a California psychiatrist who declared him "transsexual." No guidelines existed. Hopkins mentors said: "This is unheard of. No one is doing anything like this." Van Meter's legal advisor drafted informed consent making parents responsible for any adverse effects from estrogen—"because it's an unknown quantity." The military family vanished after three months, never appearing at their next appointment. "That tells you the infancy of transgender issues in children. Nobody had any idea." Claims of treating kids "for years and years"? "I don't know of any cases that were ever published."
WPATH: From Underground Society to Medical Cult
The Harry Benjamin Society—WPATH's predecessor—was "an underground organization" communicating by letters, helping adults find surgeons in places like "Bismarck, North Dakota" because "no reputable places were doing anything like that." Van Meter traces WPATH's evolution: "World Professional Association of Transgender Health—first of all, transgender is not very healthy. The concept of being born in the wrong body is a terrible concept of unhappiness." Their "standards of care" rely on "25,000 answers called into an online survey"—unverified, no baseline evaluations, pure self-report. "They pretended they were using scientific guidelines...anecdotal reports...surveys...perhaps a fantasy."
The Puberty Blocker Deception
As someone who treats precocious puberty, Van Meter knows the real data: blockers are safe when used briefly in very young children to preserve height and prevent first-grade menstruation. But blocking puberty during adolescence? "You have irreversible damage." A 2024 review in Acta Paediatrica documented evidence of negative effects on neuropsychological function from puberty suppression, including reports of IQ drops in some children treated with blockers. "Dementia is an outcome when this is disrupted...you are basically messing with brain development." The railroad to cross-sex hormones? "98% of kids that block puberty go to cross-sex hormones." The "pause button" metaphor? "It is a railroad freight train full speed going into cross-sex hormones."
Cross-Sex Hormones: Creating Disease States
Van Meter explains what endocrinologists have known for 100 years: wrong-sex hormones cause disease. "Excessive androgens in females increase heart disease risk significantly, cause irregular menses, set up the endometrium for cancers." In males, estrogen "increases prostate cancer, breast cancer, stroke risk." The doses used for transition? "Probably a tenth of what they're creating with so-called replacement hormones." His verdict: "Why would we throw gigantic tenfold increases over those amounts into the wrong body and expect something beneficial? It's absolutely unconscionable."
John Money's Horrific Legacy
Van Meter witnessed Money's methods firsthand at Hopkins. Money would terrorize religious female fellows with sexual theories, including claiming "amputees self-destruct their limbs so they can fantasize masturbating the stump." The breaking point: Money convinced a mother to raise her micropenis baby as a girl. Six weeks later, Van Meter discovered the baby had responded perfectly to testosterone treatment—completely normal penis and testicles. Money "would have had his genitals cut off and been miserable." Hopkins banned Money from seeing patients without permission. Yet in 2015, Hopkins reopened their gender clinic, calling Money "our hero...we were pioneers all along."
The Psychiatrist Who Shut Down America's First Gender Clinic Speaks Out
What happens when a psychiatrist looks at the data and says no? Paul McHugh's journey from confronting John Money's pornographic medical lectures to closing Johns Hopkins' gender program in 1979 reveals how a profession meant to examine ideas became enslaved to them. As major medical journals now "affirm" psychological identity over biological reality, …
Medical Societies' Wall of Silence
Van Meter has approached the Endocrine Society, American Association of Clinical Endocrinology, and Pediatric Endocrine Society annually for seven years requesting balanced discussions. Result: silence. At a 2019 conference, "security officers ringed the room" during the transgender session, blocking recording devices. When Van Meter stood to ask a question, moderator Steven Rosenthal "said we don't have any time for questions" and ended the session 10 minutes early. "They will not let you in the door...The only reason they would do that is if they're afraid that what they're presenting is not appropriate."
Sterilization: The Cancer Comparison
Mia notes pediatric fertility preservation literature exists only in "oncology and gender medicine." Van Meter confirms: these are the only two areas where children are sterilized. The difference? Cancer treatment saves lives; gender medicine relies on the debunked suicide myth. "The myth of saving a child's life from suicide has been busted so wide open irreparably...if somebody says that, you need to shake your head and say, go back and look at reality."
“Tasty piece of fudge” paper: “Sexuality and Gender”: Lawrence S. Mayer and Paul R. McHugh
Hear Quentin speak on "The Impact of Hormones" at Genspect's Albuquerque conference, September 27-28.
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