A Minnesota university program is putting paper dolls with swappable, removable genitals into the hands of clinicians and teachers for kids as young as four.
Story Snapshot
- The University of Minnesota’s Eli Coleman Institute built “MyGender Dolls,” paper cutouts with over 100 swappable parts, including genitals, for kids ages 4 to 10.
- Early funding tied back to a University of Minnesota innovation program connected to state support under Gov. Tim Walz.
- Public materials say the dolls are made for clinicians, educators, and therapists, not sold as a toy straight to kids.
- The university took down detailed program pages, and no record yet shows any school district has adopted the dolls.
- Critics say parents were never asked and there is no clear way to opt their kids out.
University Researchers Build A New Kind Of Doll
Associate professors Dianne Berg and G. Nic Rider spent six years building MyGenderDolls at the University of Minnesota’s Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health. The paper cutout dolls come with more than 100 swappable pieces, including clothing, hairstyles, and detachable internal and external genitals, aimed at children between ages 4 and 10.
The project’s own materials describe it as a therapeutic tool, not a mass-market toy. A website statement said the dolls are “designed for the clinicians and educators who show up for these kids every day,” offering resources meant to be used with adult guidance rather than handed to children on their own.
State-Backed Funding Draws Scrutiny
The dolls trace back partly to the University of Minnesota’s Early Innovation Fund, a program connected to state support during Gov. Tim Walz’s administration. That link is why critics call the project taxpayer-funded, even though the public record does not include a grant ledger or spending report spelling out exactly how much public money went into the dolls themselves.
One conservative outlet claimed the state spent “millions” on the effort, but no independent audit or budget document in the available record backs that specific number. Without a verified accounting trail, the true cost of developing and distributing the dolls remains unclear to the public.
Missing Records Fuel Distrust On Every Side
The university deleted a detailed program summary that had described how children could “visualize their anatomy and genders” using the dolls. Reporters say the school later directed questions toward public-records requests instead of answering directly, leaving gaps in what the public actually knows about the program’s design and safeguards.
No document in the current record, such as a school board vote, district memo, or curriculum approval, shows the dolls have actually reached a Minnesota classroom. Reports describe the dolls as something that “will be available” to educators this fall, but that is different from proof they are already in use.
Taxpayer- funded University of Minnesota Medical School’s Institute for Sexual & Gender Health has developed transgender paper dolls, featuring removable genitalia, for kids as young as 4 to to help children “learn about the different options that exist for who they can be”.…
— David Burke 🇺🇸 (@ConservativeTht) July 27, 2026
Kimberly Fletcher, president of Moms for America, argues parents were never consulted and have no clear opt-out option if the dolls do reach schools or clinics their kids attend. That concern sits alongside a broader question raised by observers: what supervision or age-screening rules, if any, will govern how the dolls get used.
This fight fits a pattern seen again and again in disputes over schools, gender, and children. Sparse official documentation gets replaced fast by viral outrage and partisan framing before anyone can check the facts, leaving both sides working from incomplete information rather than settled proof.
For now, the honest picture is narrower than either side’s loudest claims suggest. The dolls exist, they were built with university and state-linked support, and they are meant for professionals working with kids. Whether they will show up in an actual classroom, and under what rules, is still not confirmed in the public record.
Sources:
townhall.com, whmi.com, washingtonexaminer.com, x.com, wnd.com