Surgery society disavows ‘gender affirming’ interventions for young people

A major medical group with a direct stake in the national debate over gender transitions for minors has come out against providing related clinical measures.  

In a position paper released Feb. 3, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says there is “insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents.”

The ASPS is no idle onlooker. Many plastic surgeons have provided such services as elective mastectomies, aka “top surgeries,” to females of various ages who wish to identify as males or “non-binary” persons. 

The group states that it now “recommends that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.”

In coverage of the development, the Washington Post points out that the ASPS has evolved its stance on the issue. Earlier positions included opposing attempts by states to restrict transition care as of 2019, followed by mulling over “considerable uncertainty” about longitudinal effects of chest and genital procedures in 2024. 

The Post quotes a past president of ASPS who did not vote on the new guidance but has participated in relevant talks within the society. 

“This is a vulnerable, adolescent population,” says the former ASPS head, Scot Bradley Glasberg, MD. “We are mindful that some of these surgeries are irreversible.”

Secretary Kennedy, Administrator Oz laud ASPS  

Also weighing in on the development are members of the Trump administration’s healthcare leadership. 

“We commend the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for standing up to the overmedicalization lobby and defending sound science,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says in prepared remarks. “By taking this stand, they are helping protect future generations of American children from irreversible harm.”

“When the medical ethics textbooks of the future are written, they’ll look back on sex-rejecting procedures for minors the way we look back on lobotomies,” adds CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD. “I applaud the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for placing itself on the right side of history by opposing these dangerous, unscientific experiments.”

1 statement is unlikely to settle the issue 

Such views are likely to face stiff headwinds from groups favoring “gender-affirming” care for minors. 

“All children deserve to feel safe and have their identities affirmed, particularly in healthcare settings where many already feel vulnerable,” the large and influential Human Rights Campaign states on its website. “The more of these conversations we have with doctors, teachers, coaches, service providers and others who work with gender-expansive youth, the more welcoming and inclusive spaces we can create for all people.” 

HRC is a formidable political lobbying organization and the largest LGBTQ+ civil rights group in the U.S. 

On the other hand, Gays Against Groomers, a relatively new nonprofit whose name gives away its membership as well as its reason for being, posted a comment to social media Feb. 2 signaling it may well support the ASPS’s stance.

“One of the many lies of ‘gender affirming care’ is that it’s safe and reversible,” Gays Against Groomers wrote on X. “It’s NOT! Public schools privately hand out breast binders, pushing this lie.” The post presents a video from a detransitioner who says she suffered permanent harm from these devices. 

For its part, the ASPS released its statement less than a week after a detransitioner was awarded $2 million in a lawsuit she filed against her former psychologist and plastic surgeon.