Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - “The Predatory Side of Pediatrics.” - With Dr. Jill Simons

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

Are pediatricians in America currently “following the science” when it comes to gender dysphoria? Overwhelmingly-no. Pediatrician Jill Simons explains how deep the corruption goes within an industry that should be putting the health of kids first.Visit the American College of Pediatricians Website. Click HERE For Resources to Confront Transgender Ideology.Go to Nimi Skincare and use promo code ALEXCLARK to get 10% off your order.Support American farms and shop Good Ranchers and use 15% o...

we find out about our current medical system, the more anxious we feel about knowing who to trust, especially with our children. With the rise of children transitioning genders across the country and multiple children's hospitals enduring lawsuits from detransitioners, you like me are probably curious if there are any good pediatricians left, doctors who care more about children's health than a woke credit score, who are willing to risk everything to protect our most vulnerable. This week's guest was a partner at her pediatric clinic, and she was recognized by her peers as an American Academy of Pediatrics fellow. And then the 48-year-old pediatrician and mother of twins decided to speak out against the American Academy of Pediatrics for putting dollar signs over children's lives. She now belongs to the American College of Pediatricians, an organization of health care professionals fighting back.

We discussed the motive behind the medical industrial complex pushing sex reassessment. assignment surgeries and body-altering hormones, how the United States is moving full steam ahead while other countries are now walking this back, a strange pattern between kids who struggle with gender dysphoria, if pediatricians are worth taking your kids to at all anymore, and other mainstream cultural talking points that the American College of Pediatricians is speaking out against. Welcome to Season 6. You can watch every interview by subscribing to Real Alex Clark on YouTube. By the way, if you've never left a review for this podcast, it helps us tremendously appeal to potential guests, become visible to new listeners on the podcast charts too. Please welcome the very brave Dr. Jill Simons to the spillover.

Dr. Simons, you became a partner at your pediatric clinic. You were recognized at the American Academy of Pediatrics, but then started calling them out. What corruption did you begin to see within pediatrics in America? When I became a pediatrician, I was so excited to, join the AAP, be a part of this pediatric group that was working to protect children, advanced medical care. And I started to see that they were drifting away from what I thought was true to medicine, protecting life, protecting kids, following the science.

That's why I went into medicine. And it was heartbreaking, actually, to see this. So I have been calling into question some of the things that the AAP is recommending and that's actually harmful for children. So I was fortunate to find the American College of Pediatricians, which is a group of pediatricians that is set up to follow the science of medicine and evidence-based and what's best for our patients, and above all, to protect life and to do no harm.

Becoming a fellow at the American Academy of Pediatrics was a lifetime goal of yours. I mean, that couldn't have been easy to come to this conclusion. that I'm not sure that everything they're doing is ethical. Yeah, you know, almost, I thought for a moment that I would not be able to practice pediatrics. I was seeing the AAP recommending transgender harming interventions for children. I saw my own Children's Hospital in Minneapolis open a gender clinic for children. And I thought I was alone in my beliefs.

It didn't change my mind. And I knew, I knew the science, I knew the research that these things were harmful. But no one was standing forward. None of my fellow pediatricians were speaking out. And then one morning on my way to the hospital at 5.30 or 6 a.m. on the way to see the newborns, I was listening to NPR and I heard a pediatrician talking about the puberty blockers, the cross-sex hormones, these awful surgeries. And what were they saying? Were they speaking favorably about it or negatively? No, this is the first time I heard a pediatrician talk about how harmful they are and how wrong it was.

And I just about pulled over the car. I was so excited that there were other pediatricians out there that believed like I did. So I joined the American College of pediatricians. And that's what started just discovering this whole group of wonderful, really excellent doctors that I'm happy to be a part of. Do you currently work as a pediatrician or are you doing more activism-related things right now? So I'm currently the executive director for the American College of Pediatricians. I do still have, I'm still board certified. I have my license to practice, but I'm the mom of twin 12-year-old boys and so have a very full life.

And so most of my time is non-clinical medicine these days. Are parents better off avoiding bringing their children to a pediatrician entirely at this point, in your opinion? It's sad that that's what that many, parents feel, it really breaks my heart because I know there are good pediatricians, smart pediatricians out there. I know them. I see them. I'm one of them. And parents need to be able to come to their doctor and be able to ask these tough questions and for their doctor to be with them through these difficult decisions and to present the facts and help them make these decisions for their children. What is special about?

the American College of Pediatricians, which you're now a member of, and how is it different from the AAP? So the American College of Pediatricians was started about 20 years ago. It was actually started by a former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a few other of his colleagues. They saw that the AAP was drifting from scientific evidence-based medicine. And this is 20 years ago, they saw this. What were they seeing 20 years ago? It started with an attack on the family, a breakdown of supporting the family and what was best for children. The American College of pediatricians believes that the best situation to raise children is having a mother and a father and to support that. We understand that that's not always possible, that sometimes you do have single parent families

or grandparents or foster parents. But the research is clear that we should strive for the best case scenario and set children up to grow in that environment. What is the truth about gender affirming care in the United States? The United States has gone down a very dark pathway. They are following what they think is, and by they I mean doctors, clinics, insurance companies, they are following what they believe is a consensus protocol for treating children with gender dysphoria. It's by no means a consensus. They're silencing people who speak out, people like myself. If you look at Europe and in particular, United Kingdom, they are doing a 180

on this. Explain what you mean by that. In the United States, if a child comes to a pediatrician and says, I think I'm the opposite sex, or I just don't feel comfortable in my body, I'm really afraid to go through puberty, they are taken at face value. They say, oh, of course you are. Or you might be trans. You know, that's become the catch-all diagnosis for a lot of mental health conditions where child feels distress about puberty. And they start them on this train, I call it, of social affirmation, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, surgeries. Whereas in the United Kingdom, where they've been doing this for years, they've looked at the research

and they've determined that these gender, so-called gender-affirming treatments are actually harmful for children. And they've actually paused. They've done a complete 180. And they're now going back to recommending mental health evaluations,

figuring out the family situation. Why is this child feeling this way? So the United Kingdom and other European countries are backing away. from these procedures. And the United States is going full of force ahead, doubling down on these procedures and silencing doctors who try to question them. New Year, new you, right?

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Alex Clark for 10% off. You will find all of the details in the show notes below. Why is there that discrepancy? Why is there that difference between what American doctors are recommending and what doctors in Europe are doing on this issue? It's become an ideology. It's become political. And the doctors and the scientists in the U.S. are not looking at the evidence-based medicine because if you do, you will come to the conclusion that the U.K. did in other countries. and see that. This is this is not the direction that we need to be going. So what is the, what is the evidence showing about allowing kids to transition or gender dysphoria that you see in teenagers especially? So if, if a child experiences gender dysphoria, we know in the past

that conservatively 85% of these children will, this dysphoria will resolve. They go through natural puberty and they'll feel comfortable with the biology that they were born with. If you start interfering with that, though, and socially affirming them, forcing them down this pathway of steeper and steeper treatments, then that changes. So we know that just left to, you know, just support natural course of this, that overwhelming majority of these children resolve, that right there should be, that right there should be a stop. That should be a game changer. No one should be permanently medicalizing children, you know, disfiguring their bodies for a condition that resolves for 85% of them. So when we see different states passing laws, for example,

in the United States saying, you know, we're not going to transition minors. We're not going to offer gender reassignment surgery to minors. And then you have the L.D.E.E. LGBTQ lobby come out and say children will die because of this move. What is your response to that? It's false. There are no studies that show that children will commit suicide if you don't affirm them. In fact, quite the opposite. These gender, so-called gender affirming treatments lead to more harm higher mental health disorders. They're not benefiting children. And this is a lie that's being told to parents. And parents are terrified to hear this. So they'll do anything to save their child. When they're told, you know, would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?

I mean, that's scary. And, you know, shame on these doctors for telling this lie to parents. So what about reports or studies that claim that LGBTQ kids are more at risk for suicide than straight kids? There's a really eloquent study done where they look at children who are raised in a community, this is looking at a faith-based community, where they're raised with acceptance of LGBT values, and then one where that is looked down on. And there's no difference in mental health outcomes. These children, big percentage of children who have gender dysphoria have underlying mental health conditions, depression, anxiety.

you know, up 75% in some studies. There's also a very large percentage, 25, somewhere around there, percent of kids that have autism or autism spectrum disorders. That's very interesting to me, the autism transgender connection. Why do you think that is? Kids with autism think very concretely. So, and they're also often struggle with social interactions. They maybe don't fit in.

They have trouble making, friends with their peers. They're looking for a reason, why don't I fit in? And so they're told, like a lot of kids, it becomes this catch-all diagnosis. You don't fit in because you're trans. And if you go through these treatments, you'll fit in. It'll be better. And they latch on to that, that this is, this is why I don't fit in. And it's really sad. They also, kids with autism and autism spectrum disorders think very concretely. And so when they are told that you can become the opposite sex, they believe it. And it's just not true. You can't make someone who's born male become a female, vice versa. Is the American Academy of Pediatrics knowingly lying to the public about the

negative health implications from transitioning a minor? Their policy is towards pushing gender affirming care, which is really should be called gender non-affirming care. Because if you were affirming the child's biological sex, you wouldn't be doing these things. But there are policies that they put in place, recommending these things, not questioning, even going so far as to discourage counseling or looking into mental health underlying problems. Why discourage it? What would be behind the motivation to discourage children struggling with this from seeking counseling, you know, even in addition to physically transitioning. Right. It doesn't make sense, right? Why would you, why would you discourage from looking into this? It's because it's become an

ideology. You can change your gender is the ideology. You can, you can be fluid. You can be male, female. You can be something in between. So if you start questioning that, if you say, no, that's not possible. You're either male or female. Then you're called a bigot. You're called homophobic. And so these counselors are not allowed to look into that. They just have to accept that this is who the child says they are or you're discriminating against them. What can be gained and who is gaining from it, this idea of telling parents that we can medically transition children. Because there has to be some, we don't just do something for no reason. Somebody is gaining something and who is it and why? There's many sides to this

to the transgender ideology. There's definitely a political motivation, you know, this creating this victim population, the gains that come from that. But just looking at the medical side of it, this is a cash cow. I mean, you've medicalized someone from a very young age through their whole adult life.

And then they're going to be a patient for life. Oh, of course. Because what kinds of things will they have to continue paying for for the rest of their life if you transition as a minor? So your body cannot maintain, if you start giving your body the opposite sex hormones, it's not going to all of a sudden start creating those hormones. It's going to keep fighting and producing the hormones it was designed to produce. So you have to keep taking those hormones in order to maintain the facade that these hormones

give of the opposite sex. Then there's all the procedures that come to make you appear physically on the outside, like the opposite sex surgeries and all the awfulness that comes with that. It's removing of healthy body parts, the complications that can happen. So there's just the harms of that. And then not to mention if you give someone high dose hormones like they're given for cross-sex hormones, I mean, these are 30 to 100 times what is physiologically normally happening in a male or female body, you're creating cardiovascular disease, you know,

thrombo-emolic events like strokes, breast cancer, uterine cancer, early menopause. You interfere with bone growth and you end up with osteopenia, osteoporosis. There's also effects on the brain, just cognition. We know that Lupron, one of the biggest puberty blockers, can cause trouble with just mental function, also depression, suicidal ideations. So, you know, the side effects of these medications cause medical problems. themselves. Dr. Simon, something I get told all the time by people that are maybe more apolitical, they're not on Twitter, they're not super plugged into politics, is this is a completely made-up

narrative. Nobody is doing surgeries, removing children's breasts, nobody is cutting off body parts in children's hospitals. This is a made-up thing from conservatives. It's a conspiracy theory. And I would say early in my career, I was one of those people who thought this could not be happening. I mean, you hear it, it makes no sense. You don't have to be a doctor. It's common sense. And so you just can't believe it's happening. But I can tell you it is.

And in my position as the executive director, I get calls every day, emails, you know, every week from parents who are struggling with a child who is being told that they need to take these hormones. Where is it happening? What hospitals are performing surgeries like this on people under 18? So there's cases all over the country. you know, they're starting to be sued. And that's how this ends. The detransitioners or the children and young adults who have been told that this is the solution, they're now speaking out when they realize that this isn't.

I've now, I end up with a body that's harmed. And, you know, so they're going after the hospitals, the doctors. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics was just sued for their policies, their harmful policies. So, you know, sadly, this is how this ends, that no one's going to continue paying for this. Insurance companies aren't. They're not going to be able to withstand these lawsuits, which saddens me because this really should come from doctors, scientists, saying this isn't ethical. This needs to stop. Okay.

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and then you get free chicken for a year limited time. That is good ranchers.com with code Clark for $20 off your order plus free chicken for a year for limited time. Find the link in the show notes to explore their large menu of meat boxes sourced from small farms and ranches right here in the U.S. Good Ranchers, American Meat delivered. What is the success rate of these constructed genitals through gender reassignment surgery? Are any of these people experiencing fully functioning, penises or vaginas, are they able to enjoy sex? Can they achieve orgasm? What are physical logistics of having these surgeries? It's very sad and not many people want to talk about the gory details of what

they end up with. But if children, especially if they're started on puberty blockers before they enter puberty and then they're put on cross-sex hormones and then they undergo these surgeries to try to create false vaginas and fake penises. They end up with something that's non-functional. They have no sexual function or not properly functioning sexual organs. No one does or some of them don't? The majority of them, I mean, you, first of all, if you start a child on puberty blockers, say at the age of nine before they've undergone puberty, their organs will not mature. So it requires going through puberty to get the full function of these sexual organs

to be able to have an orgasm, to have sexual pleasure. Not to mention they will be infertile because those puberty is required for the final development of sperm and egg. So when you stop that process there, they don't get to develop. There's also not much tissue there to work with. And so when you are then looking at creating, you know, it's just awful what they do. But when you try to create these organs, you have little to work with tissue-wise. And they end up with more complications. And they're not functioning. They don't get the full growth that a human being needs to get in order to be sexually mature.

And what is the maintaining process of somebody who, who has these constructed genitals through, you know, sex reassignment surgeries? Like, what is the upkeep on one of these makeshift penises or vaginas? So they will be staying on hormones, high-dose cross-sex hormones. So they're medicalized for life that way. But these false sexual organs are just fraught with complications. you know, for example, if you create an opening in the body, these false vaginas, you have to try to keep them open because a body is going to try to heal itself and close off these wounds

that have been made. So they require frequent, you know, dilating, keeping them open, surgeries, there's tears. You know, they use sometimes lining of the intestine or, you know, to, to, to, to create these openings. They're not designed to be there. They don't have the normal function. This is Frankenstein stuff. It is. And the majority of minors who struggle with gender identity issues, they're not experiencing emotional relief after getting these surgeries. No. There's a good study out of Sweden that followed these transition individuals 10 years out because most studies will say six months out, a year out, oh, the results are great. They're happier than ever.

Mental health problems decline. You know, but there's something, you know, it's new. It's, they're still in that euphoria of change and haven't really realized the full consequences. So this study done in Sweden looks 10 years out. And these individuals have a 19 times higher suicide rate than the general population, something like three times the mortality rate and mental health rate. So that's pretty concerning data. And more, you know, the truth is there are not a lot of studies on this and why. So then what study does the American Academy of Pediatrics use to say we're doing the right

thing by encouraging this? I don't mean. Everything you're saying sounds to me like the science proves otherwise. So what do they claim? Well, there's a couple of things about that. Most of these protocols were based on Dutch studies that were done a number of years ago, called the Dutch Protocol. And this was a study that was designed for adults.

This was not meant to be applied to children or teenagers. The scientists who did this study themselves have criticized the recommendations saying our study was not designed to be interpreted this way. So they extrapolated data from these Dutch studies. They were not very well done studies in the first place. And what happens is one society like the American Academy Pediatrics or the Endocrine Society, you know, they use it and then they get reinforced by the AAP and then they sort of, you know, give it that kind of credibility.

They're basing a lot of the protocols on, you know, they're not. evidence-based systematic review studies. They're individual anecdotal studies. There's just so many problems that come from these. And the Dutch studies actually have been rebuked and found not to be good studies, yet they're still being used. This is what they were based on. So there's, there really is, there's really no evidence to base these on. It's completely made up. Yes. How much money is gender transitioning currently generating for big pharma and the hospital industrial complex, if you want to call it that? It's hard to say.

The bigger issue is with Planned Parenthood now getting in on this cash cow. You know, kids can buy hormones on the internet. It's definitely a moneymaker for these hospitals and places like Planned Parenthood. I remember seeing my pediatrician as a teenager, you know, they give you this little they ask your parent to step out of the room. They ask you this little questionnaire about, you know, do you ever drink? Are you having sex?

Do you ever have suicidal thoughts and things like this? You know, do you use drugs? If their position on this issue, for example, is that kids know what's best, is their position then that a child in that circumstance in the room that tells them, well, I'm cutting. Or, yeah, I, you know, I'm getting drunk multiple times a week while I'm still in high school, those types of things.

Would they say, well, okay, that's your, that's your thing. If you want to do that, that's fine. Do they alert parents to that stuff? Or is anything a kid wants to do now allowed? This is the dangerous slippery slope that we're confronting now that we're finding ourselves in. I know for myself in my practice, I was concerned about this when the AEP was asking us, you know, telling us basically, you know, get parents. out of the room. That's the only way you get the correct answer from a child. It's the only way

they'll be truthful. But what you're doing then is you're removing their parents from their medical care. Yeah. And a child cannot consent to these treatments. They do not have the capacity developmentally to understand what's happening. We have great studies that no one disputes, that the human brain is not fully developed until the mid-20s. You know, that prefrontal cortex is the last to mature. And that's, that's our decision-making center. That's the part of our brain that tells us, this may not be a good idea, you know, years from now. And that's, that's when parents are needed. So kids, kids cannot give informed consent at this age. What do you expect we're going to see happen in the next 10 years when it comes to minors who have transitioned?

So the transgender treatments will end. This, this, this, will end. There's no doubt. We have the science on our side, the truth on our side. The more people hear about it, which I'm so grateful you're, you know, talking about this with your audience and people are speaking out because that's how this ends is getting the information out there. I wish that was what happened. I wish pediatricians, you know, were the ones stepping up saying, wait a minute, stop. We made a mistake. We can't do this. But what's happening is it's the insurance companies, it's the lawyers, the politicians that are having to step in and put an end to it. But, you know, it's got to end.

What are some other lies that the American Academy of Pediatrics routinely tells parents? The biggest ones are, you know, believing when a child says I'm transgender or I want to be the opposite sex. that to me, you know, as parents, as pediatricians, their children. You know, we're the adults. This is our job is to protect them. And to remove children from that umbrella of protection, I think is just the biggest lie that they're telling. The Southern Poverty Law Center has accused American College of Pediatricians of pushing anti-LGBQ junk science.

How would you respond to that? So we are all about evidence-based medicine. All our policies are based on science. We are not anti-any one. We just put out there what is best for children. And the transgender lifestyle, the treatments that are going along with that are not what's best. So, you know, of course, when you speak out like we do, what they do and they can't argue on the facts and the science is they call you a homophobic and a bigot. Well, I mean, I think one of the things that they have a problem with also is you guys talking about how children do best in a home that has, you know, a parent represented from each gender, a male and female in the home that the outcomes are better.

Is there science that talks about the outcomes of children raised in same-sex homes? Is two loving parents truly all that matters? This was one of the reasons that the American College of pediatricians split from the AAP, is that there were studies that showed that children raised in a two-parent home, mother, and a father, did better than one raised by two dads or two moms. I mean, the science is there. The science is still there. when this paper came to the American Academy Pediatrics,

its own scientific policy committee recommended against publishing it. They said the data isn't there to show that, let me back up, the AP says that there's no difference, that children raised in a home with two dads or two moms is equal to a mom and a dad. But the evidence didn't show that. The evidence showed that children do best with a mother and a father. But the AAP, you know, cave to politics and, and published, you know, didn't publish all the

facts and, you know, came out saying it's just the same, that, you know, children, children can get, children can have the same outcome, whatever the household. And so we push back against that. And again, it's not saying that there are not loving homes with, you know, whatever the child's parental situation is, whether it's a relative or just one parent. But to say that the optimal way to raise a child is something other than a mother and a father is just not scientifically accurate. American College of Pediatricians is one of the organizations suing the FDA for their approval of the abortion pill. Is this lawsuit that you guys are involved in just about religious or political,

differences or is there a medical risk with the abortion pill that consumers are not aware of? Yeah, the Marconcology Pediatricians is one of five groups of what is called the Alliance for Hippocratic medicine and we're standing up against harmful medicines like Mifipristone and the chemical abortion pill. I can't go into the details of the case because it's still ongoing. But it's the chemical abortions are harmful for many reasons. obviously they are intended to destroy one life. But you've now taken something that was once done, you know, in a clinic and a hospital, you know, with doctor, with medical staff.

And now you've now isolated this woman or this girl and a teenager. And they're having to go through this chemical abortion at home, you know, by themselves. it makes it much easier for, you know, trafficking, you know, sexual predators. It's just, it's not, it's not, it's not safe. I think that the pro-choice response or rebuttal to what you just said would be, well, that's why Roe v. Wade being overturned was a mistake. Now you have women trying to get an abortion. They're going to have to do it at home instead of in the doctor's office.

What would you say to that? You know, killing a baby is just wrong. It's killing a baby. And there's no such thing as a safe abortion for at least one of those persons. And, you know, we just keep giving the message that we believe in life from conception. And we have to support that. My parents' favorite story to tell about me as a toddler is the time that I pooped in the tub and just started saying, uh-oh, darn it, uh-oh, darn it, over and over again.

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Alevia.com with discount code Alex 15, a-L-E-A-V-I-A-A-V-I-A-D-com with code Alex 15 for 15% off or click the link in the description. One in 36 children now have autism in the United States. What is your opinion on that? Autism is a diagnosis that has grown in scope and what it covers. There are, there's a full spectrum. of autism disorders, mildly affected, profoundly affected.

And there are children that fall under that diagnosis that maybe wouldn't have. I'm not saying diagnosis is a bad thing if it leads to therapies and things that will help. But I think we really have to take a hard look at the numbers and, you know, where are they coming from? What does this look like? There's so much mental health issues and poor family dynamics that contribute to a lot of how a child develops neurologically. So I think it's a complex issue why there's so many children falling under this diagnosis of autism. What happens to a pediatrician who leaves the American Academy of Pediatrics? Does it affect their ability to practice?

No, it's, um, the American Academy Pediatrics does give, uh, you know, continuing medical education, uh, provide support. You know, they, they produce, uh, recommendations on all sorts of good things, cardiac health and, um, neonatal health. So it's, you know, it's a, it's a body of medicine, um, that you can go to for resources. Uh, but it, it, it, you don't have to belong, not at all. At the American College of Pediatricians, some of us maintain our AAP membership. Some do not. You know, I think I know there are a lot of good, smart, compassionate pediatricians in the AAP. I think many of them either are afraid to speak out against what they think is harmful. They also maybe just don't realize they're not paying close enough attention to, you know, look

the research themselves and look more into these policies. So there are good pediatricians. I think they're just being misled. Do you think that there is value in wellness checkups or do you advise parents, you know, you really only need to be taking your kids to the doctor if they're sick? Right. Like it seems silly, right? You take your child in. They're smiling, happy, playing with the doctor and they're fine. You know, no medicine. But gosh, that is one of the most important visits. that's a pediatrician's job is to spot developmental concerns or abnormalities before they become an issue to be able to intervene. And many of them are very subtle vision problems, developmental milestones, growth problems

that are, you know, difficult, if not impossible for a parent to see on their own. And it requires seeing the child over time and seeing how they're developing. to be able to recognize that. Now, one of the things I love about being a pediatrician is that most of my patients are healthy, you know, they're doing great, they're not on medications, but it's those few percentage that you have to, you know, watch out for. Have you noticed that trend of people that are really involved in these like super crunchy wellness communities being like, we're not going to the pediatrician at all?

Does that concern you? It makes me sad because it's so important. And you have to trust the pediatrician that you see and there are good ones out there. We, you know, you can contact American College of pediatricians. We can get you in touch with, you know, someone near you. But, you know, I think moms are some of the smartest people I work with. They, not only do they know their kids better than anyone. And as a pediatrician, you should be paying attention to that, paying attention to what the moms say.

but they also read up on what's affecting their children and bring great questions to the doctor's office. Yeah, what are the biggest red flags you think that parents need to be looking for when deciding which pediatrician to go with? Like are there certain questions that you advise parents? Like when you go and you're visiting a brand new pediatrician, these are the things you should ask to determine,

like, this is somebody I want working with my child or not. Yeah, I mean, you can ask them if they're a member of the American College of pediatricians. and, you know, I think just ask questions that are concerning for you, that are, you know, important to you, that you want to be a part of your child's checkups, that, you know, you want to be in the room, you want to be a part of their decision making, you know, just having a conversation with them. Often I meet with parents before their child's born. You get to know the pediatrician.

often you meet them in the hospital. You know, you can ask about faith and other things that are important to you, but it's, it's that relationship is what it's about. You have to build a trust your pediatrician. Should conservative parents be worried that their pediatrician may work to take their kids away from them if they disagree with their political views? Well, it gets back to the relationship with your pediatrician. You know, you are the ultimate, as parents, you decide your,

child's medical care. The doctor shouldn't be threatening. Of course, there's cases of abuse and things like that that pediatricians get involved in. But no, parents are the ones making decisions for their children's medical care. Does the American College of Pediatrics have a database where people can go find a doctor that is fighting for the same things that you spoke about today? We do. It's an internal database, though, just for privacy and safety for our members. So you can contact us and we can get you in touch with someone. Do you think where we're at now that medicine is still a worthwhile career for a conservative young woman to pursue? I do. I'm very hopeful. I see everyday pediatricians that I work with that are working to do what's best for children

and they're smart, compassionate, and they're needed more than ever. So I encourage young girls, young women to pursue this career. How can people discover more about what the American College of Pediatrics is doing? So we have our main website, A-C-P-E-D-S.org. We also have a brand-new website called Biological Integrity.org. This website is for all the transgender. resources that you will ever need. Perfect.

Yep. And it's meant for parents, for, you know, non-medical people to be able to read. It also is for pediatricians, policymakers, but parents and teens themselves can go educate yourselves.

Great stuff in there. Thank you so much, Dr. Simons, for coming on the spillover. You're welcome. It's pleasure to be here. I don't know about you, but hearing from two healthcare professionals back to back in a row on this podcast

who are committed to overthrowing a dangerous and corrupt system has me feeling so encouraged going into a new year. The second spillover interview I ever did was on the subject of record numbers of girls transitioning with investigative journalist Abigail Shrier. One of the best nonfiction horror books I have ever read is her book, Irreversible Damage. And then in season two, I interviewed two D-transitioners together,

a young woman and a young man who both found themselves becoming trans after being inundated by LGBT. content on social media. Next week, I am interviewing the host of one of my favorite, favorite health and wellness podcast. I actually discovered her only a few months ago, and I have been binging her podcast ever since. She is the queen of understanding how to eat an ancestral diet, how to do it in an affordable way.

We're also just going to get into why the sun is in in 2024. Her favorite and least favorite wellness trends she tried last year, exactly how to include nourishing traditional foods in your diet. I know that a lot of you are big fans of her podcast, too, because you've told me. The Spillover is back next Thursday at 9 p.m. Pacific, midnight Eastern on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and the real Alex Clark YouTube. I'm Alex Clark, and this is The Spillover. Love you, mean it.

Bye.