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Conversion therapy By the numbers
How "Conversion Therapy" Hurts Kids and Misleads Parents
When your child tells you they're questioning who they are, panic can set in fast. In that vulnerable moment, some parents are told that "conversion therapy" can help. But the numbers tell a different story, one every parent needs to see before making decisions they can't undo.
And now, with the Supreme Court's ruling in Chiles v. Salazar weakening state-level protections against these practices, the data below is more urgent than ever. The legal guardrails are eroding. The facts haven't changed.
8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide.
That's what happens to minors who experience high levels of family rejection, which is how children perceive the experience of encountering "conversion therapy" practices.
Let that sink in. Eight times. Not 8 percent more likely. Eight times more likely.
Young people subjected to these practices are also:
5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression
3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs
3.4 times more likely to engage in unsafe sex
When we look at what parents are actually buying when they purchase "conversion therapy," the numbers show we're not protecting our kids; we're putting them in harm's way.
Why These Numbers Matter More After the Chiles v Salazar Ruling
On March 31, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that Colorado's law banning conversion therapy for minors, as applied to talk therapy, violates the First Amendment. The ruling sent the case back to lower courts under strict scrutiny, the toughest legal standard there is.
More than 23 states have similar bans that are now vulnerable to challenge. That means the legal protections that once stood between your child and a harmful practitioner are weaker today than they were yesterday.
When laws can't protect our kids, the facts have to. And the facts are clear.
A February 2026 research brief from The Trevor Project found that young people with recent exposure to conversion therapy reported the highest rates of suicidal thoughts (61%) and attempts (35%) among all groups surveyed.
Research from Dr. Caitlin Ryan's Family Acceptance Project found that when both parent-initiated and therapist-led conversion efforts were combined, the attempted-suicide rate among young people climbed to 63%.
These aren't abstract statistics. They're someone's son. Someone's daughter. Someone's grandchild.
The Conversion Therapy Con:
Following The Money
Here's what makes this even harder to swallow: families are paying thousands of dollars for this harm.
In 2015, a New Jersey jury unanimously ruled that "conversion therapy" is consumer fraud. The organization marketing conversion therapy practices was ordered to pay $72,400 to compensate victims, plus attorney's fees, and was permanently shut down. The judge didn't mince words: there is "no factual basis" for the success statistics these providers claim.
Think about what that means.
Risking your child's life and your relationship with them, and being scammed in the process. Families have reported spending anywhere from several hundred to tens of thousands of dollars on programs that every major medical organization says don't work. That's money that could go toward building a future together. Instead, it lines the pockets of people selling false promises.
Zero Percent: The Success Rate That Matters
0%. That's the percentage of credible scientific evidence showing "conversion therapy" can actually change who someone is attracted to or how they see themselves. When something has a zero percent success rate but an 840 percent increase in suicide risk, that’s not therapy – that’s harm dressed up in fancy medical language.
The Toll On Families
Many approaches used in "conversion therapy" blame parents for their child's identity, claiming that faulty parenting caused their child to be transgender or experience same-sex attraction.
Can you imagine? You're paying someone to tell you and your child that you failed as a parent. That your love wasn't enough. That you created this "problem."
The result? Families fracture. Trust shatters. Adult children who come out on the other side of those experiences say that even decades later, the words "mother" and "father" brings physical pain.
Some parents tell counselors: "We've been accepting for years, but our child still won't speak to us." When asked what happened before acceptance, the answer is almost always the same: "conversion therapy."
How do you put a number on losing your child, not to death, but to a broken relationship that may never heal?
What Your Child Needs From You
Here's the only statistic that should guide your next steps: 100 percent of children need their parents' love, protection, and presence, especially during confusing times.
The path forward is about making sure the decisions you make today don't destroy the relationship you want to have with your child tomorrow. It's about protecting them from practitioners who profit from your fear and your faith.
You don't need to abandon your values to do this. You just need to see these practices for what the numbers prove they are: ineffective, expensive, and dangerous.
The Bottom Line
When someone offers to "help" your child through "conversion therapy," they're really offering:
An 840% increased risk of suicide attempts
A 590% increased risk of severe depression
Zero credible evidence of success
Thousands of dollars in costs
Permanent damage to your family bond
Those are the numbers that matter. And they should tell you everything you need to know about where not to turn when your family needs real help.