A 32-year-old woman who once identified as “non-binary” said last week that she is suing the doctors who performed her life-altering, irreversible double mastectomy operation two years ago.
Camille Kiefel had her breasts removed in 2020 to align with her chosen “gender identity” after two Zoom meetings with doctors, according to the New York Post. And, the doctors reportedly did not look into her mental health issues.
Since then, Kiefel is now in a better place mentally and is suing her social worker and therapist and the gender clinics they work for, Brave Space Oregon and Quest Center for Integrative Health. The Post noted that she is seeking up to $850,000 in damages.
“I was 30 and at the end of my rope when I transitioned," Kiefel said at a recent hearing about transgender health care held by the Florida Boards of Medicine, according to The Daily Wire. “At the time I believed I was nonbinary, I struggled with severe mental illness and suicidal ideation.”
Kiefel explained to The Post how she got to this point. When Kiefel was in sixth grade, she had a friend who was sexually assaulted by a relative. That is when she became “aware of her femininity” and her father gave her advice that “backfired.”
“My dad told me how men talked about girls, because he wanted to protect me and to get me to dress more conservatively,” Kiefel told the outlet. “But it made my anxiety worse. All that really screwed me up. I remember I was afraid to be alone.”
When it came to how Kiefel dressed, she said “I didn’t want to highlight my curves. I had a lot of discomfort around my breasts and hips.”
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Once Kiefel went away to college at Portland State University, she minored in gender studies. There, she learned about “alternative views about sex and gender.” She soon adapted the “non-binary” gender identity and went by pronouns “she” and “they.” All the while, she was struggling with anxiety disorder, social anxiety, PTSD, major depressive disorder and ADHD.
At age 30, Kiefel was still struggling and thought that “gender-affirming” surgery could help.
“I was so dysfunctional, and I just wanted something that was going to help me,” she told The Post. “I thought I would be happier.”
Kiefel spoke to doctors on Zoom twice in 2020, once in May and once in July. Reportedly, the former lasted 40 minutes and the latter lasted one hour. Her surgery was greenlighted by these professionals without Kiefel meeting anyone in person. She had her breasts removed Aug. 28 and experienced complications soon after (via New York Post:)
Complications were almost immediate. She said she experienced trouble swallowing and scopolamine poisoning from a patch on the back of her ear meant to treat nausea, which caused her pupils to dilate for months post-surgery.
All of a sudden, she said the doctors who approved of her surgery and validated her feelings left her in the lurch. “Doctors took me seriously up until surgery, but after I developed all these complications, I noticed they stopped taking me seriously,” Camille said. “I was on my own at that point.”
And, while she hoped the procedure would help her mental health, she wasn’t quite so sure when she saw the final result: “I remember when the doctor took the bandages off, I felt kind of mixed.”
In the ensuing months, Camille got her mental and physical health in order, and once again identifies as a female. She said she now sees the situation from a more stable viewpoint.
“There’s nothing to transition to as nonbinary,” Camille said. “There’s no third sex out there. It’s just based on a feeling that this would be a good fit for you. It’s a designer surgery but I didn’t think of it at the time . . . It’s a weird Frankenstein surgery that they’re doing.”
Last month, Townhall reported how Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old de-transitioner, announced that she would sue the medical professionals who performed her irreversible double mastectomy procedure when she was still a minor.
“My teenage life has been the culmination of excruciating pain, regret, and, most importantly, injustice,” Cole shared in her announcement on Twitter. “It is impossible for me to recoup what I have lost, but I will ensure no child will be harmed at the hands of these liars and mutilators. I am suing these monsters.”
My teenage life has been the culmination of excruciating pain, regret, and most importantly injustice. It is impossible for me to recoup what I have lost, but I will insure no child will be harmed at the hands of these liars and mutilators. I am suing these monsters. @pnjaban pic.twitter.com/i80VHvGXJn
— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChoooCole) November 11, 2022
In a recent interview with Catholic News Agency, Cole explained that complications from her surgery from over two years ago have continued.
“The top layer of skin is not really healing over. It emits this fluid constantly, so I have to wear non-adhesive bandages over them all the time," she told CNA.
And this year, England’s National Health Service announced that its only dedicated gender clinic would be shutting its doors. In guidance released by the NHS shortly after, it noted that most children who feel like they are transgender are likely experiencing a “transient phase.”
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