The Protocol

A six-part podcast exploring the story of medical treatment for transgender young people — how the care began, the lives it changed, and the legal and political fights that could end it in the United States.

AFLEVERING 1

The Beginning

The story of youth gender medicine starts in The Netherlands, with a clinical psychologist and a 16 year-old who was determined to go through life as the gender he long felt he was.

43 min
AFLEVERING 2

The Gender Kids

The new treatment is codified into a protocol, and the Dutch publish a landmark study that launches the field of youth gender medicine. A former patient describes the benefit of early treatment in a society that is still hostile to trans people.

35 min
AFLEVERING 3

The American Approach

In Boston, a psychologist helps set up the first youth gender clinic in the U.S., adapting the Dutch approach. Across the country, a rising star in the field questions their methods. Meanwhile, demand increases worldwide as the types of patients seeking care change.

41 min
AFLEVERING 4

The Whistleblower

A small Midwestern gender clinic gets consumed by a growing political fight when a whistleblower goes public. She had begun to see the treatments as harmful, and decided the political route was the only way to fix it.

43 min
AFLEVERING 5

The Review

The heated debate is not limited to the U.S. In England, a pediatrician tasked with figuring out how the country’s health care system should provide the care finds that the evidence is “remarkably weak.” One major medical group argues that’s missing the point — and repeating history.

46 min
AFLEVERING 6

The Now

State bans are enacted. The Supreme Court is poised to weigh in. President Trump declares that there are only two genders and threatens to withhold federal funds from hospitals that provide pediatric gender treatments. We hear from kids, parents and providers caught in the middle about the complicated decisions they are making.

51 min
TRAILER SEIZOEN 1

Introducing ‘The Protocol’

Since 2021, nearly half the states in the U.S. have passed bans on medical treatments for transgender minors. The Trump administration is now targeting the care, and in the coming weeks, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in. “The Protocol” is the story of youth gender medicine — where it came from, who it was meant to help, and what may come next in the legal and political fights over its future.

4 min

TRAILER

Introducing ‘The Protocol’

Since 2021, nearly half the states in the U.S. have passed bans on medical treatments for transgender minors. The Trump administration is now targeting the care, and in the coming weeks, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in. “The Protocol” is the story of youth gender medicine — where it came from, who it was meant to help, and what may come next in the legal and political fights over its future.

S1

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4 min

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Finally Some Nuance

07-06-2025

D. Deal

In a heated debate like those about trans rights and especially gender care for children is The Protocol a breath of fresh air. It will probably receive pushback from the progressive left and their gender affirming agenda as have previous NYT articles on the subject. But in my opinion the writers and podcast makers have done an amazing job is highlighting all sides and giving needed historical context. The people they interviewed showed us how we got into this mess en it will allow us to get out of it. A pathway for children to access transgender care while being protected by rigorous requirements. Allowing gender disphoria to once again be seen as real and rare.
Still Slanted

10-06-2025

Stefan de jong

This series is a cynical and incomplete pivot away from a dangerous and divisive ideology without addressing the underlying assumptions that humans can be born into the “wrong” body and that physical medical interventions can alleviate psychological suffering. We hear from many proponents of the protocol and very little from those who are challenging it. The whistleblower who is included is confronted by a reporter who clearly cannot keep her personal biases under wraps. What a shame. Despite the poor framing, it does provide an interesting general overview of the history of this medical madness. Many who have not done a deep dive on the subject will likely accept the hubris of the Dutch at face value. For all the little known revelations uncovered here, there are many which remain undisclosed and undiscussed, including the financial incentives and legal consequences for sex based rights. As for the lament by De Vries in the concluding episode that there are much bigger problems in the world and her question as to why everybody is so concerned, I can answer that. It has nothing to do with acceptance of others (who apparently don’t even accept themselves), and everything to do with the denial of biological reality. The material world is not subject to the whims of children and their doctors and the sooner we teach them that the better. I would never have spent a minute looking into this phenomenon if it hadn’t been unprofessionally and confusingly presented to my young children in school and then included in their biology textbooks once they reached middle school. Instead, let’s teach children about reality, resilience and universal kindness.

A six-part podcast exploring the story of medical treatment for transgender young people — how the care began, the lives it changed, and the legal and political fights that could end it in the United States.