Chloe Cole, who decided she was transgender at age 12 and underwent a double mastectomy three years later, spoke at a public hearing Friday in support of Rule 59G-1050, which would limit Medicaid funding of transgender drugs and procedures. “I really didn’t understand all the implications of any of the medical decisions I was making,” Cole, now 17, said at the hearing, according to Fox News. “I unknowingly cut my true self from my body, irreversibly and painfully.” Cole also explained the impact of her decision as a minor in a separate meeting with Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who posted videos of her touching Twitter account. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to fully carry a child, and I may be at increased risk for certain cancers, especially cervical cancer,” Cole said. “And because I don’t have my breasts — I don’t have breasts anymore — I can’t breastfeed as many future children as I have.” Chloe Cole, who decided she was transgender at age 12 and underwent a double mastectomy three years later, spoke at a public hearing Friday in support of Bylaw 59G-1.050. courtesy of Chloe Cole Cole then took a long pause, the video shows. “That realization was actually one of the biggest things that made me realize that this wasn’t the path I was meant to take,” Cole said, adding that no child should have to go through what she endured. “Don’t transport your kids,” Cole told Fox News when asked what she would tell the public after her experience. “If you’re thinking about transitioning, wait until you’re a fully grown adult. Transitioning can damage your body and mind in ways we may not fully understand.” Ladapo tweeted Sunday that Florida does not support medicalization of minors with gender dysphoria because “the benefits have not been proven.” She thanked Cole for being “brave enough” to share her account. “Medicalizing minors with gender dysphoria may advance the political views of the doctors involved in their care, but the data showing any benefits for actual children is extremely scarce,” Ladapo told Fox News. “The confirmation model is at an unacceptably high risk of failure.” Cole said she supports Rule 59G-1050, which would limit Medicaid funding of transgender drugs and procedures, including puberty blockers, hormones, hormone antagonists, sex reassignment surgery or other procedures that change “primary or secondary” sexual characteristics by the treatment of gender dysphoria. “We cannot allow this to happen to children,” Ladapo responded on Twitter. “The people in power allowed this to happen. I know you will help break this vicious cycle.” Cole’s testimony was hailed as “highly problematic” by a spokesman for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which recently found that several gender dysphoria treatment services do not conform to “widely accepted professional standards” and have the potential to long-term negative effects, Fox News reported. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Center for Transgender Equality did not respond to requests for comment on Cole’s testimony, according to the report. President Joe Biden signed an executive order last month calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure minors have access to transgender interventions, but doctors remain divided on the issue. Cole said she supports Rule 59G-1.050, which would limit Medicaid funding of transgender drugs and procedures. Florida Department of Health “I think the data behind the gender confirmation model is not scientific,” Dr. Matthew Benson, an endocrinologist in Jacksonville, told Fox News. “We need better data, we need long-term prospective trials where we can see the adverse effects. We need much stronger data to justify these kinds of very strong treatments.” Cole, meanwhile, previously told The Post that she believes it’s “a failure of the system” and now refuses to stay silent. She wants to have children one day, but isn’t sure that will be part of her future, as her egg viability consisted of testosterone injections. “I’m still in the dark about the overall picture of my health right now,” he told The Post last month.
