When Vanessa Sivadge, a registered nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital, wrote an anonymous op-ed about the hospital’s secret transgender medicine program, two FBI agents showed up at her home shortly thereafter to interrogate her. Last month, the hospital fired her. Dr. Eithan Haim, a general surgeon who worked at the same hospital, received a similar visit from federal agents after he leaked information about the existence of the transgender program to conservative activist Christopher Rufo. The United States government is not kind to conservative whistleblowers.
“We exposed the fact that Texas Children’s Hospital—the largest children’s hospital in the world—was lying to the public about the existence of their transgender program,” Haim wrote. “In part due to the story’s release, the very next day, the Texas Legislature voted, with bipartisan support, to ban transgender medical interventions on minors. The conduct we exposed became illegal in the State of Texas within 24 hours of our story.” Despite that, Haim was investigated and is now being prosecuted on allegations that he mishandled medical records. If convicted, he could face ten years in federal prison and a maximum possible fine of $250,000.
The contrast between the U.S. and the UK on this issue is quite stark. While hundreds of physicians are resigning from the British Medical Association (BMA)—the doctors’ union—in protest of the BMA’s support for the use of puberty blockers for minors and their refusal to accept the Cass review, American medical professionals holding the same position are being targeted. In the UK, the transgender movement is losing its grip on the narrative, and their political support base is shrinking rapidly—even Labour supports the ban on puberty blockers. In the United States, the LGBT movement owns half the political spectrum. America may well be the transgender movement’s Alamo.
In theory, liberals lionize whistleblowers—unless they challenge the premises of the progressive powerbrokers. When undercover journalist David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress revealed that Planned Parenthood was pillaging the corpses of aborted babies to sell their organs for medical experimentation, the establishment leapt into action. Kamala Harris, then serving as attorney general of California, ordered the FBI to raid Daleiden’s home, seize his personal property—including hours of video footage damaging to the abortion industry—and turn the full force of the state on him. Two weeks before the raid, she had met with Planned Parenthood executives. Planned Parenthood had also donated to her campaign.
Despite that, Kamala Harris will not be asked a single question about her abuse of power, conflict of interest, targeting of journalists, or her support for gruesome abortion practices. The pro-life movement challenges the powerful and is the only major human rights movement to face a mainstream media almost entirely committed to the institutional coverup of the killing, butchering, and organ trade of unborn babies. Harris became vice president and is now running for president of the United States. David Daleiden and his fellow journalists have been fighting from courtroom to courtroom and have spent the better part of a decade battling a snarl of legal charges, and much of his undercover journalism has yet to be released.
What is it like to be one of these beleaguered whistleblowers—and why do they decide to take a stand, despite knowing that they could face the wrath of the U.S. government in response? Vanessa Sivadge agreed to a wide-ranging interview with The European Conservative.
When did you first realize that sex-change surgeries and ‘treatments’ were being performed at the largest children’s hospital in America?
In 2021, I accepted a new role in a multispecialty clinic in which transgender patients were being seen at Texas Children’s Hospital. I witnessed confused children coming in with their parents to see the doctor and leaving with a prescription for a cross-sex hormone. I saw how doctors who had sworn an oath to do no harm prescribe medications, initiating children down a path of sterilization and irreversible harm. I was heartbroken to see many teenage girls who were confused about their gender were also struggling with depression, previous suicide attempts, past sexual or physical abuse, and autism.
I realized that doctors would manipulate and convince parents that ‘gender-affirming’ care was lifesaving and that the medical transition of their child into the opposite sex would prevent them from committing suicide. In my view, that lie is the most egregious and horrific form of emotional blackmail ever peddled by modern medicine.
In August of 2022, I wrote an op-ed titled, “What Happened to Do No Harm? A Nurse’s Firsthand View of the Transgender Craze.” I wrote the following: “My employer is one of the leading medical institutions in America offering ‘gender-affirming’ care. I not only interact with patients who identify as transgender but also work closely with endocrinologists who prescribe hormonal therapy like estrogen to male patients. I am surrounded by medical providers who believe they are doing the right thing by prescribing testosterone and signing off on top surgery.
Although I am deeply compassionate towards patients who have been officially diagnosed with gender dysphoria, many of them have succumbed to the cultural current designed to bring confusion and chaos to their God-given identity and sexuality. I weep for my patients who seek help from therapists and psychiatrists, only for them to advocate for the reversal of the normal, biological process known as puberty via synthetic hormones. I mourn the generation of young females who will wake up in 10 years and realize that they were deceived into believing that their confusion, depression, and anxiety would resolve after getting a hysterectomy.”
How did major medical institutions begin engaging in these practices? Was there much discussion amongst the medical staff about them?
Texas Children’s Hospital is one of the most prestigious pediatric hospitals in the world and the largest children’s hospital in the United States, bringing in over $6 billion in annual revenue. Parents travel with their children from all over the world to be seen by leading pediatric specialists and clinicians. Embedded in the cultural fabric of the hospital is a ‘gender-affirming’ model of medicine. I completed regular mandated training on LGBTQ+ inclusion and gender inclusivity and was told by superiors that I must use a child’s preferred pronouns. This was top priority for the hospital. As a result, you can imagine the hesitation and fear any employee would have when considering blowing the whistle on a gargantuan medical institution, one of the most prestigious in America. Major medical institutions that build a hospital culture of ‘gender affirmation’ count on that fear to dissuade average, everyday people from speaking the truth.
I thought I was accepting the job of my dreams when I was hired in 2018, until I saw a pattern of deception and illegal conduct happening under the radar. Some of my coworkers and friends at work were like-minded and equally concerned about harmful, irreversible drugs being prescribed to children confused about their sex. However, it is a scary and intimidating decision when considering whether or not to expose wrongdoing at the largest children’s hospital in the country and violating Texas law. I know I was scared for a time and weighed this choice very carefully.
What made you decide to go public? Was it a difficult decision?
My decision to go public in June of 2024 was made to save the lives of children being deceived and harmed by our medical system. Additionally, I had uncovered that American taxpayer dollars are funding ‘gender-affirming’ care through Medicaid, and that realization was the catalyst in my decision to come forward. I knew the risks my decision would entail, and I knew that I could ultimately lose my job and endanger my career. But when I considered a verse in Ephesians 5, everything became clear. “Have nothing to do with the worthless deeds of evil and darkness, but expose them. Everything exposed by the light becomes visible.” As a Christian, I believe that I am called to shine a light on the evil and confusion being perpetuated to our children and on the harm being promoted as ‘gender-affirming’ care. Despite the risks, I came forward. I have no regrets.
Why did the FBI personally intimidate you over your decision to become a whistleblower?
On July 24 of 2023, while eating dinner with friends, we were interrupted by a knock on the front door. Two FBI agents flashed their badges and asked to speak with me about “issues at my work.” Time stood still, and I was scared. They informed me I was a person of interest in an investigation regarding an anonymous whistleblower who had, in their words, “violated HIPAA by disclosing patient confidential information to the public,” an allegation I knew was false.
Two months prior, in May of 2023, I came forward as an anonymous whistleblower to affirm that Texas Children’s Hospital was providing cross-sex hormones secretly through their transgender program. This hospital had made numerous statements in prior months where they claimed to have shut down the program and scrubbed all traces of it from their website, but it was all a lie. In response to a first whistleblower who we now know was Dr. Eithan Haim, I came forward anonymously to confirm what had already been reported as true—that Texas Children’s Hospital was providing cross-sex hormones to children. A few days later, the Texas Legislature voted to pass SB 14, a bill signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott prohibiting physicians and other licensed medical professionals from providing ‘gender-affirming’ medical care to minors.
How did the hospital respond to your allegations?
On June 19, 2024, I went public with illegal billing of Medicaid for sex change hormones and received a call from the hospital shortly thereafter. They informed me I was under investigation and placed me on administrative leave. On August 16, 2024, I was fired by Texas Children’s Hospital. This is unlawful for two reasons: it is retaliation for my coming forward with information on TCH’s egregious pattern of deception and Medicaid fraud, and this action also illegally disregarded my request to transfer due to my belief that these procedures bring irreversible harm and lifelong regret to children confused about their sex.
What are your plans going forward? How can people assist you in your advocacy?
I would like to challenge this unlawful retaliation in court, but my legal fees are mounting. I have retained attorneys as a result, and I am relying on the public, who is generously supporting my legal defense through donations to my GiveSendGo fund. I am so grateful for the messages of encouragement, prayers, and financial support. Please support my efforts to fight back so that other whistleblowers will not have to go through what I did.
