Boston Children’s Hospital goes all in on transgender procedures for kids, as more states move to ban the ‘harmful and irreversible’ practices

A doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital is calling for an increase in the capacity to provide “gender-affirming” care (GAC) for kids, especially in states with little or no restrictions governing such practices.

Dr. Oren Ganor, co-director of the Boston’s Center for Gender Surgery, even seems to advocate for the aiding and abetting of minors crossing state lines for the controversial transgender treatments, since many states are moving to ban the ‘harmful and irreversible’ practices.

“Physicians who provide GAC will face a greater burden due to constraints in certain states,” Ganor writes in a journal article, Fox News reports. “Especially as certain states work to criminalize GAC for adolescents, there will be an increased flux of patients traveling to seek care in states with more open legislation.”

To meet the growing demand, the authors argue for more clinics and offer steps to “improve capacity for this patient population.” 

In addition to opening more clinics, the authors declare the need to “increase training efforts” for “gender-affirming surgeries,” claiming that, “plastic surgery residencies currently do not have a recommended number of gender-affirming surgery cases that plastic surgery trainees see during training.” 

Ganor isn’t just a co-director for the hospital’s Center for Gender Surgery. According to his bio for the article, he’s also a plastic surgeon specializing in the highly profitable practice of sex change procedures, as well as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, which is “deeply invested in… improv[ing] the field of ‘gender-confirming’ surgery.” 

Boston Children’s Hospital is no stranger to the controversy surrounding “gender-affirming.” 

As reported by The Lion in August, the hospital’s Center for Gender Surgery proudly claims to be the first of its kind in a major pediatric hospital. At that time, the Center’s website gleefully marketed horrific procedures like vaginoplasty, phalloplasty and mastectomy to be performed on children as young as 15. 

After facing backlash, the hospital updated its policy to say, “All genital surgeries are only performed on patients age 18 and older.” However, “chest reconstruction surgery” is still available to children as young 15, if the child meets “certain criteria.” 

Those criteria? Two doctors’ notes will suffice. 

“Patients who want to pursue chest surgery must be at least 15 years old and have the following: 

• A letter from a medical doctor or nurse practitioner stating that you have “persistent, well documented, gender dysphoria” and specifying either the length of hormone therapy or why you are not taking hormone therapy. 
• A letter from a mental health provider stating that you have the capacity to consent and that any significant mental health issues are being addressed.”

Despite the formal requirements stated on the website, Ganor reportedly told hospital staff that the hospital is “slightly flexible” when it comes to the age of transgender girls seeking genital surgery, saying hospital policy isn’t finalized, “because of the issue around consent for sterilization.” 

Currently, 11 states have passed laws or regulations restricting or banning “gender-affirming” care for minors. At least another 20 states are considering similar legislation.