An increasing amount of “transgender” minors are deciding to undergo “top surgery,” The New York Times reported this week.
Reportedly, about 700,000 people in the United States identified as “transgender” in 2020 according to a study conducted by UCLA’s the Williams Institute. The Times claimed that because breasts are “highly visible,” it makes “transitioning” gender difficult and can cause “intense distress” for transgender teenagers. As a result, more biological females who identify as trans men and non-binary are seeking top surgeries.
Dr. Angela Goepferd, who is “non-binary,” is the medical director of the Gender Healht Program at the Children’s Minnesota Hospital and told The Times that adolescents may want “top surgery” for a flatter chest but not other masculine features, such as a deep voice or facial hair, that comes with taking testosterone. The Times said research shows that biological females who get “top surgery” to transition to being a man “benefit” from this.
Much research has shown that as adults, transgender men generally benefit from top surgery: It relieves body-related distress, increases sexual satisfaction and improves overall quality of life. A few small studies of transgender adolescents suggest similar benefits in the short term.
Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher, a surgeon based in Miami, has built a “thriving top surgery” facility and said she performs about 40 top surgeries a month. Reportedly, about one or two of the surgeries each month are performed on an underage patient.
Younger patients are usually at least 15, though she has operated on one 13-year-old and one 14-year-old, she said, both of whom had extreme distress about their chests.
The surgeon said that most of her patients, teenagers and adults alike, found her on TikTok. Her online presence has drawn sharp criticism from right-wing media, as well as from some parents and doctors who say she uses the platform to market to children.
The Times added that “some” patients end up regretting their surgeries. In addition, it added that there are no official statistics that show how many trans minors receive top surgeries annually, let alone those who grow up to regret it.
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The New York Times surveyed leading pediatric gender clinics across the country: Eleven clinics said they carried out a total of 203 procedures on minors in 2021, and many reported long waiting lists. Another nine clinics declined to respond, and six said that they referred patients to surgeons in private practice.
The procedure reportedly costs $9,000 to $17,000, depending on the facility. Surgeons generally require parental consent and approval letters from mental health professionals.
Last week, Townhall reported how Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee came under fire after conservative commentators revealed that the facility was providing “gender-affirming” care for minors because it is profitable.
In addition, ex-trans teenager Chloe Cole issued remarks in Washington, D.C., about the harm of transitioning minors. Cole, as Townhall covered, decided she was transgender at age 12 and medically transitioned from ages 13 to 17, taking puberty blockers and testosterone. She underwent a double mastectomy at 15. Cole now regrets transitioning at such a young age and is in the process of de-transitioning.
“Over the past decade, there has been as high as a 4,000 percent increase in children being referred to so-called gender clinics across the United States. I was one of these children,” Cole said in her opening remarks. “My story is a cautionary tale.”
“People across the entire political spectrum who believe that this practice is morally wrong have been told that they are fascists or bigots for even questioning this atrocity. Others have been convinced by self-proclaimed ‘gender specialists’ that this is the only treatment that will not end in your child committing suicide,” she continued.
“I believe Americans deserve to know the truth about this radical and perverse ideology marketed as necessary and life-saving health care.”
Every American needs to hear Chloe Cole’s story.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene???? (@RepMTG) September 20, 2022
What a courageous young woman! pic.twitter.com/FoBuSsREb2
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