About 350 patients in this age range, which accounts for more than 9.5% of patients, received other cosmetic surgeries to facilitate a gender transition, according to the estimates.
The study found a discrepancy in younger and older patients with regard to what types of procedures they received. Younger patients were more likely to receive breast and chest surgeries, whereas older patients were more likely to receive genital surgeries.
It is unclear from the study how many patients had turned 18 by the time of surgery and how many were still minors.
“I think it’s deeply concerning that we know already that at least a few thousand American minors are receiving … draconian [and] experimental surgeries,” Jay Richards, the director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at the Heritage Foundation, told CNA.
Richards noted that many European countries have begun to restrict transgender surgeries and drugs for minors because of concerns about irreversible changes, but the United States is not “keeping with trends elsewhere in the world.” He noted that “a 13-year-old is not capable of giving informed consent,” which he said is reflected in many other American laws, such as drinking age requirements.
“The vast majority of young kids struggling [with gender dysphoria] … actually resolve those feelings” if there are no drug or surgical interventions, Richards added. He said these issues should be treated in a way that yields “the least amount of damage” rather than “one of the most draconian possible interventions to treat a psychological disorder that isn’t well understood.”
Credit: Source link