Texas Supreme Court Weighs Detransitioner's Right to Sue Over Gender Treatment

A Legal Battle Over Timing and Transition

The Texas Supreme Court will decide whether it's too late for a woman to sue a therapist who recommended a double mastectomy as part of her gender transition. Soren Aldaco, a Fort Worth resident at the time, alleges various counselors and doctors recklessly pressured her into medical gender transition as a teen and were biased toward encouraging hormones and surgery as a remedy for gender dysphoria .

Health care liability claims in Texas must be filed within two years from the date the tort, or civil wrong, occurred. Much of the dispute centers on when exactly that was. Wood and Three Oaks argue the limitations period began February 2021, so the suit should have been filed by February 2023 .

Aldaco sent a pre-suit notice in May 2023 and filed a medical negligence suit that July. Aldaco alleges Wood didn't adequately examine her mental state and falsely claimed in the recommendation letter that she was treated for gender dysphoria and had lived as a transgender man for a year .

The Path to Detransition

According to her lawsuit, Aldaco had a troubled family life, struggled with her body image and started exploring her gender after interacting with transgender friends online. Aldaco was hospitalized for a manic episode in 2018, during which she alleges a Fort Worth doctor pressured her to identify as transgender. It was this and interactions with other people supportive of medical gender transition that led Aldaco to start taking testosterone, she said .

Aldaco began telehealth counseling with Barbara Wood of Three Oaks Counseling in 2020. She said the therapy primarily focused on relationship issues with her partner at the time, not assessing or resolving her "gender curiosity." Wood wrote a letter on Feb. 22, 2021, recommending Aldaco for a double mastectomy .

Aldaco ultimately "detransitioned," the process of stopping or reversing gender transition. She attributed her issues with identity to her stressful adolescence and external influence and found peace instead through meditation, according to court records .

Political and Medical Context

A coalition of 60 Texas House Republicans signed a statement Feb. 4 urging the court to allow Aldaco's claims to proceed . The lawmakers also pledged to work on carving gender-modification care out of the state's strict malpractice lawsuit limitations, a change that could make Texas doctors more likely to face legal action when helping adults transition .

Transgender care is supported by major medical associations across the United States as the best standard of care for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Studies show around 1% of people who undergo gender-affirmation surgeries later regret the procedures, but the exact number is unknown .

In another major case dealing with transgender health care, the Texas Supreme Court in 2024 upheld the state law banning doctors from providing gender-affirming care to minors .

Looking Ahead

Justices appeared amenable to Aldaco's claims and skeptical of the defense that the limitations period started before Aldaco could sue . The case is a test of how the statute of limitations should be applied when an act of alleged medical negligence and the resulting harm occur at different times. But it could also determine if and when mental health professionals are to blame for recommending transgender treatment that their patients later regret .

This case arrives at a pivotal moment when medical groups are reassessing their positions on gender care, and state legislatures are grappling with how to regulate these treatments. The court's decision could reshape how Texas handles malpractice claims related to gender transition care, potentially affecting both patients seeking treatment and providers offering it. Whatever the justices decide will likely influence similar cases across the country as debates over transgender healthcare continue to evolve in courtrooms and state capitals nationwide.