Minnesota Schools to Receive Transgender Dolls Featuring Removable Genitalia

Minnesota Schools to Receive Transgender Dolls Featuring Removable Genitalia

Move over Mr. Potato Head!

Educators and gender care professionals in Minnesota are very fired up about “MyGender Dolls.” Developed over six years by researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School, the paper dolls feature removable genitalia (both internal and external), while allowing children to mix and match clothing, accessories, and hairstyles to create a doll that reflects their identity.

While it sounds like a parody conjured up by The Babylon Bee, it is, unfortunately, real.

According to The New York Post, the dolls are set to arrive in public school classrooms across the state this fall and will be made available to children ages 4 to 10. And yes, Minnesota taxpayers are footing the bill for this creative endeavor.

A therapist involved with the project told the Post that the goal is to help children “learn about the different options that exist for who they can be.”

The MyGender Doll website describes the product as “a new play-based therapeutic approach for trans and gender diverse children — and the clinicians who support them.” The site also proclaims, “We make gender fun! Our award-winning dolls and services are community-informed, research-driven, culturally-attuned, and grounded in gender-affirming clinical practice.”

From the Post:

Prototypes of the dolls were shown in a 2024 conference where one named “Sam” can be seen in what appears to be some phase of a gender transition, with a detachable penis off to the side, and a dress and girls’ underwear within reach.

…

They come with interchangeable accessories and removable and swappable genitalia to help children “realize all the different options that exist for who they can be — regardless of their body parts,” University of Minnesota postdoctoral fellow Ben Parchem, Ph.D., said in a now-deleted article in the University of Minnesota Foundation’s magazine.

The dolls began as a research program in the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, spearheaded by two members of the school’s faculty, Dianne Berg, PhD, and G. Nic Rider, PhD, both educators in the school’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

“It’s really important to address the belief, ‘I’m not a ‘real’ boy because I don’t have these private parts,’ versus, ‘I am a real boy, whatever my anatomy looks like,’” Berg told the Foundation’s magazine in the now-deleted article.

“It’s about helping children develop tools to cope with messages in society that could lead to shame,” she added.

The X post below shows several images of the dolls. It’s truly amazing that six years of research went into their development. Mr. Potato Head probably took someone a day or two to create.

NEW – Minnesota to hand out paper transgender dolls to children as young as 4, the paper dolls feature removable genitalia and were created for children to "learn about the different options that exist for who they can be." — NYP pic.twitter.com/fEcDCCuw80

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 25, 2026

Below, a Fox News panel discusses the inappropriateness of the dolls:

🇺🇸 Minnesota classrooms set to get “My Gender Dolls” this fall

Apparently, dolls with interchangeable anatomical features will be used with kids as young as 4.

Created by 2 university professors, the dolls have quickly become the newest flashpoint in the school gender…

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 26, 2026

The introduction of MyGender Dolls into Minnesota public schools is likely to fuel an already contentious debate over how or even if public schools should address gender identity with young children.

Even if parents are given the choice to opt-out of exposing their children to these dolls, it would take about a nanosecond for students to become aware of them through classmates.

While supporters argue the dolls can help children explore identity and foster inclusion, many others will ask why public schools are teaching young children about these dangerous options at all? Why are they presenting this as a possibility to children?

If children were not exposed to the concept of transgender identity, how many would actually spend time wondering if they were born in the wrong body? Very few, if any.

The MyGender site claims the dolls will “promote resilience, confidence, and joy through structured, engaging play.” I would argue that, for the majority of students, the dolls will instead promote needless confusion, and particularly among the younger children, dangerous misconceptions about something they can’t possibly grasp.

As the program rolls out this fall, these questions are likely to remain at the center of the public discussion.

[Note: This story was first reported by The College Fix writer Gabriel Sison on July 10.]

Taxpayer-funded transgender dolls headed to Minnesota classrooms this fall.

“First-of-their-kind” paper dolls with removable genitalia will be introduced to some Minnesota classrooms for children as young as 4 years old, according to a New York Post report.

The dolls, developed… pic.twitter.com/avV9DA9KxJ

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) July 25, 2026

Update added July 27, 11 a.m.

I mistakenly wrote that The New York Post was the first media outlet to report this story. I just learned, however, that the story was originally reported by The College Fix writer Gabriel Sison on July 10, more than two weeks ago. I have revised my post and I apologize for the error.

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