American Society of Plastic Surgeons pumps the brakes on sex changes operations for children

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is publicly raising concerns over child sex changes.

The ASPS told Leor Sapir of the Manhattan Institute there is “considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions.” Accordingly, it “has not endorsed any organization’s practice recommendations for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria.” 

The ASPS represents over 90% of the plastic surgeons in the United States and Canada. 

Citing an “existing evidence base” it says is “viewed as low quality/low certainty,” the organization is “reviewing and prioritizing several initiatives that best support evidence-based gender surgical care to provide guidance to plastic surgeons.” 

Sapir celebrated the decision on X in a post, which has already been viewed over 2.6 million times, saying the ASPS broke the “consensus” he claims is often used to justify the horrific mutilating surgeries. 

“BREAKING: The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, an organization representing 92% of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the U.S., becomes the first major medical association to break from the consensus over ‘gender-affirming care’ for minors. This is big news,” he exclaimed. 

In his report, Sapir references the United Kingdom’s Cass Review (an independent report commissioned by England’s National Health Service), which found that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the U.S. Endocrine Society have been instrumental in forming this consensus. 

They did so, Dr. Hilary Cass reported, by relying on each other’s standards rather than a robust review of the scientific evidence available. This “circularity,” Cass wrote, “may explain why there has been an apparent consensus on key areas of practice despite the evidence being poor.” 

Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Sheila Nazarian told Sapir a growing number of her colleagues have serious concerns about the use of prescription hormones and surgeries on minors. However, many are afraid to come forward with their concerns she says, fearing backlash. 

“It’s a real problem when colleagues are afraid to debate any medical treatment or procedure, and especially when minors are the patients,” she says. “I have been following the international debate on youth gender medicine for some time now and know we [in the U.S.] are far behind in recognizing the lack of evidence for long-term benefits, something that our European colleagues have done.” 

Additionally, Nazarian says plastic surgeons need to step up and stop relying on mental health professionals to determine whether surgical interventions are warranted. 

“You can’t outsource your professional judgement to other clinicians,” she says. “It’s your responsibility as the last in a chain of treatment to ensure you are doing what is best for the patient now and in the long term. 

“We are not highly trained technicians. We are physicians with responsibility for the health and well-being of our patients. We can get input from other clinicians, but ultimately the responsibility for determining medical readiness lies with us. That means that we have to examine all the data and studies available to us. Furthermore, you can’t help people by ignoring the reasons they want to go under the knife. With every patient, I exercise discretion as a professional and determine whether the procedure they are seeking is in their ultimate best interest.”