I used to think that the great push to prescribe children puberty blockers and hormones and subject teenagers to surgeries, and the explosion in adult medical “transition” procedures, was primarily about promoting a radical ideology. Gender ideologues want to replace Judeo-Christian moral values and the belief in objective truth with a culture based in radical individualism, irrationality, and a purported right to “personal recreationism” (a term I believe was coined by Leon Kass) — that is, to be physically remade to comport with how we feel about ourselves.
But, as a new report produced recently by the American Principles Project reveals, it is also about making a lot of money. How much? As is explained in “The Gender-Industrial Complex,” it’s “difficult to put a precise price tag on the process of sex-trait modification, given the sheer variety of procedures offered; the wide range in costs; and the additional unknowns of required follow-up, potential complications, etc.” The project “commissioned a market analysis by Grand View Research, a business consulting firm, to shed some light on that question.” The firm
examined two broad, interlocking parts of the gender industry: surgery and hormone therapy. The former includes everything from mastectomies and scrotoplasty to voice feminization, where the vocal folds are altered to achieve a higher pitch and thus a more feminine voice. It also examined how some of the key players are profiting. According to its analysis, the sex-reassignment surgery market size was $4.12 billion in 2022. That is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.4 percent from 2023 to 2030. [Emphasis added.]
There is gold to be mined transitioning people with gender dysphoria. Here are the study’s “very rough (and likely conservative)” estimates of the “complete sex-trait modification process” per individual:
- Male transitioner: Total cost of fully transitioning, $87,300–$410,600, assuming “5 years of puberty blockers, . . . 60 years of hormone use (from age 16 to 76 — the average age of life expectancy), $1,000 total for hair removal treatment, and $200 total for vocal training.”
- Female transitioner: Total cost of fully transitioning, $66,500—$605,500, assuming “5 years of puberty blockers . . . and 60 years of hormone use (from age 16 to 76).”
All of these interventions make for a multibillion-dollar industry. That kind of money is a powerful incentive in one direction. And with procedures on children increasingly pushing the market, the growth potential of the gender-industrial complex is beyond expectation:
Let’s assume the Williams Institute [on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy] is correct that there are roughly 300,000 people between the ages of 13 and 17 who identify as transgender. Based on data from the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, the cost of fully transitioning ranges from $124,000 to $140,450. Taking the smaller number and multiplying it by 300,000 still yields a market in excess of $37 billion. Yet even that number would seem conservative to some transgender activists. In an interview with Forbes, Robbi Katherine Anthony (who prefers going by RKA), the CEO of transition tech company Euphoria, said the sex-reassignment market could be as big as $200 billion. [Emphasis added; citations omitted.]
Holy cow!
The report names the pharma companies, hospitals, and organizations making big money in the industry, with financial details. It also discusses important concerns such as long-term health risks to patients and medical malpractice issues. It’s quite the eye-opener and demonstrates how the conjoining of big profits and radical ideology makes for a toxic mix.