All entries on Feminist Legal Clinic’s News Digest Blog are extracts from news articles and other publications, with the source available at the link at the bottom. The content is not originally generated by Feminist Legal Clinic and does not necessarily reflect our views.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has become the first major US medical association to adopt a cautious stance on paediatric gender medicine, citing the weak evidence base and potential long-term harm to young people.
In its new position statement, the ASPS recommends “that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.”
At least 5,200 American teenage girls had breasts surgically removed as part of a gender transition from 2017 to 2023, according to a Manhattan Institute analysis of insurance claims.
Last month, a young woman named Fox Varian was awarded $2 million in damages for the trans double mastectomy performed on her at age 16. Hers was the first claim by an American detransitioner to reach a jury verdict. There are 27 other known lawsuits filed by US detransitioners, according to journalist Benjamin Ryan.
On February 3, however, the American Medical Association (AMA), a prominent promoter of “gender-affirming care”, reportedly shifted position on trans surgery.
In a statement to National Review, the AMA said “the evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement … the AMA agrees with ASPS that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood.”
Source: Consensus shatters – by Bernard Lane – Gender Clinic News