Imagine slowly realizing that you think a doctor, who made decisions about your care when you were young and vulnerable, might have left you damaged for life. And then imagine realizing that there is nothing the law can do to help you.
This is an experience countless detransitioners are having, right now, in America. When they were children, medical professionals affirmed that they were born in the wrong body and recommended that they undergo life-altering surgery. When they grew up, they regretted what happened to them, but couldn’t hold anyone accountable—because the window they had to pursue medical malpractice claims had closed.
In Texas courts, for instance, the statute of limitations is two years. But last week, the state made a historic decision that could give many detransitioners reason to hope.
On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in favor of Soren Aldaco, a 23-year-old detransitioner who, in July 2023, sued the therapist she says enabled the double mastectomy she had at the age of 19 by writing a surgical recommendation letter. Two lower courts had dismissed Aldaco’s claims as time-barred, holding that Aldaco’s clock to bring a case started the day her therapist wrote the letter in February 2021. But the Texas Supreme Court disagreed. It ruled that the clock started only when the therapeutic relationship ended about three months later, meaning that Aldaco’s case was brought within two years of the alleged malpractice—and she can therefore pursue it.
