For years, we’ve seen how doctors will trade patient safety for a gender-ideology saturated paycheck. Even at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), this is a gruesome reality. In 2024, we learned about the tragic loss of Griffin Sivret, a 24-year-old “trans man” and MA native, who passed away likely from complications related to her “gender affirming” surgery which she documented on TikTok. Her surgery was performed by Dr. Oren Ganor of BCH.
We’ve also highlighted the stories of detransitioners like Prisha Mosley, who began to identify as transgender at age 15 and, while still a minor, was able to obtain a letter of recommendation without parental consent to begin medical interventions. Now, as an adult who has survived the gender industry and continues to live with the lasting consequences of her “transition,” Mosely uses her voice to sound the alarm on the dangers of performing unproven, irreversible surgeries on gender-confused teens.
Now, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has followed suit, raising their own set of concerns. On February 3rd the ASPS released a position statement titled “Gender Surgery for Children and Adolescents” confirming the dangers of “gender-affirming care” for minors.
Read the document for yourself here.
This six-page statement emphasized what we already knew: that these irreversible surgeries are riddled with long-term consequences. The most notable takeaway, however, is the official recommendation: “ASPS recommends that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.”
This groundbreaking document indicates a potential shift in attitude towards harmful “gender affirming care” from those who previously endorsed it.
Focused on medical and surgical intervention for those with gender-dysphoria, the ASPS’s document stated that there are no “validated methods” that indicate whether a child or adolescent’s distress due to gender dysphoria will actually resolve if they receive a “gender affirming” procedure. Rather than rely on what many have previously claimed to be settled science, they emphasized the “profound and enduring consequences” of these interventions. This is a welcome change – but we already knew this was the case.
When we told you about the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) files leaking in 2024, it was confirmed that “gender affirming care” is incredibly hazardous to recipients. The documents reveal many appalling details, but critically, that minor patients and their parents are not giving informed consent, cross-sex hormones have been causing cancer, and complicated genital surgeries are being performed on minors.
Now that the ASPS finally hopped on the “’gender affirming care’ for minors is dangerous and irresponsible” train, it is crucial to revisit why their new statement matters – and why other medical organizations must follow suit.
Do No Harm states that in the United States between 2019 and 2023, 5,745 minors had sex change surgeries and 13,994 had sex change treatments. This means that at least 19,739 children underwent medical procedures or intervention that have limited evidence supporting their benefits and safety. These procedures were performed under the assumption that they were necessary for the child’s mental health – a highly dubious claim that the ASPS now rejects.
Potential mental health outcomes are never a valid reason to perform an irreversible surgery that could affect fertility, sexual function, and future medical needs. And it is unacceptable that children have been permitted to receive these surgeries and risk facing these consequences. Not only do these surgeries distort reality for an already confused, vulnerable individual, but allowing our most vulnerable population, children, to partake is irresponsible and reprehensible.
The impacts of allowing ideology to trump common sense will be felt not only by those who received these surgeries, but nationally, when “affirming” parents, professionals, and politicians must come to terms with the injustice in which they were (often unwittingly) complicit.
Following the ASPS’s warning, the American Medical Association (AMA) also stated that these procedures should “generally be deferred into adulthood.” While we are grateful for these two organizations moving in the right direction, this is not enough. Minors should certainly not be receiving these life-altering, permanent procedures – but neither should adults. Given the fact that these surgeries are often not beneficial, or even safe, the ASPS and AMA have a clear responsibility to denounce these practices as whole. We will be watching.
Until then, we will continue praying that these organizations grow in boldness as they pursue biological reality. The future of our Commonwealth – and our nation’s children – depends on it.
But, we can’t simply wait for health organizations to catch up on what we already know. That’s why MFI is committed to staying in the fight across the Commonwealth, speaking up in the face of evil. Donate to MFI today to support us as we stand for common sense and safety across Massachusetts.
