This piece follows the story of Jonni Skinner, who says he was steered into a medical transition as a young teen at the University of Michigan and Mott’s Children’s Hospital, and it tracks allegations of medical abuse, false diagnoses to mask treatments, and a political response led by Republican state Rep. Brad Paquette calling for oversight, accountability, and changes to law protecting minors.
Jonni Skinner grew up a “naturally effeminate” gay boy who struggled to fit in and find acceptance. At 13 he was referred to the gender clinic at the University of Michigan and Mott’s Children’s Hospital. There, he says clinicians insisted he was not gay but born in the wrong body and set him on a path toward medical transition.
Skinner’s account paints a grim picture of rushed decisions, missed concerns, and long-lasting harm. He says those years brought medical problems that were minimized or misattributed by his providers. What followed is a harrowing, heartbreaking story of medical abuse, malpractice, and fraud.
Skinner says he trusted doctors even when alarms should have sounded. “He (Dr. Schumer) did briefly talk about my fertility and offered to save sperm, which I was disgusted by,” Skinner said. “I didn’t even know what that was.”
He traces a turning point to 2021, when an “identity crisis” coincided with a cascade of medical issues. “Every doctor I went to was just telling me that everything was okay. If I went to a doctor for breast pain and fluid leakage, they’d be like, ‘Welcome to womanhood,’ and I just wasn’t getting any answers.”
Skinner says his primary clinician then blamed him for seeking answers and cut off contact. “I really just wanted answers from him. And he had said that, you know, that it was my fault. That I made this decision, that it was my decision and the blame was with me.” Dr. Schumer then hung up on Skinner and never contacted him again.
Skinner has called for criminal accountability. “I think we need to start going after these doctors that are doing this to children,” Skinner said. “This was not a conclusion that I necessarily arrived at on my own. I was a gender non-conforming child; I would’ve been a classic case of an effeminate child just growing to be a gay man. And I just needed somebody at the time to help me feel lovable and accepted. And those people didn’t do that. They used my insecurities and my worldview against me.”
“Not in the name of care, because they didn’t care for me at all as I was struggling with side effects and had questions. I think we need to start going after these doctors criminally because what they’re doing is criminal.” He urged compassion as part of reform. “Keep doing what you’re doing and have a heart of compassion. Because when you approach this from a place of compassion and understanding …that any kind of slander or attacks that might be thrown your way…it’ll just roll like water off a duck’s back.”
Skinner and others note that Dr. Schumer has testified before state legislatures across the country in favor of child transitions. At the same time, Skinner says clinicians threatened his mother with loss of custody unless she affirmed his gender and made their home “welcoming.” He recalls his mother often being asked to leave appointments when she pushed on side-effect concerns.
Beyond those claims of coercion, Skinner alleges clinicians falsified records to hide the true nature of his care. He says providers listed “endocrine disorders” and other false diagnoses in his chart to conceal gender-affirming treatments and potentially mask billing. Republican State Rep. Brad Paquette says this looks like insurance fraud and is sounding the alarm.
Paquette is pressing Michigan’s oversight process and a legislative response. Lawmakers have scheduled hearings and discussed three bills — Bill 4466, Bill 4467, and Bill 4468 — that would ban gender-affirming medical interventions for minors, tighten malpractice liability, and create pathways for care and support for those who detransition.
Paquette says his work includes collaboration with whistleblowers who exposed questionable surgical and medical practices elsewhere, and he has been critical of professional bodies. He said those at the American Medical Association “don’t understand evidence-based medicine.” He also noted the bills have been labeled “anti-trans” by some but stressed committee hearings are critical for transparency.
Officials from the University of Michigan and Mott’s Children’s Hospital have been asked to explain how many minors receive gender-related treatments; Paquette says regulators and institutions have not been forthcoming. “They won’t tell us anything,” Paquette said, stressing that a post-COVID erosion of trust makes oversight even more urgent. He called the practices he described “pseudoscience” and “malpractice.”
It remains unclear whether the false diagnoses were meant to hide treatment counts, speed reimbursements, or both, but Paquette insists wrongdoing must be punished. “They need to go to jail,” he said, arguing that criminal consequences are appropriate if insurance fraud is proved.
Paquette frames the debate as about protecting vulnerable kids rather than political theater. He cited cases where trauma and mental health issues were met with a rush to medical transition instead of therapy and support, including detransitioners who suffered lasting harm. Prisha Mosley, one such detransitioner, testified about severe consequences and warned, “I want to save children from experiencing this pain as they chase a temporary euphoria promised by doctors selling snake oil. If you medically transition, you will be on the medical leash for life.”
He wants clearer language, added oversight during appointments, and better support networks for parents confronting these choices. “They need to have a network of other parents they can connect to,” Paquette said, noting some families struggle to find lawyers once providers are identified in records.
Paquette says momentum is shifting and more people are asking questions about youth transitions. He believes the political push behind broad acceptance of these medical pathways is weakening, and he remains cautiously optimistic. “I see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel,” Paquette said.
