- The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) announced it opposes breast removal and other gender transition surgeries for minors, citing insufficient evidence of benefit.
- In a Feb. 3 position statement, ASPS recommended delaying gender-related breast, genital and facial surgeries until patients are at least 19 years old.
- The move marks a reversal from ASPS's 2019 stance and follows growing uncertainty acknowledged by the group in 2024 about the long-term effectiveness of such procedures for adolescents.
- ASPS said its updated guidance was influenced by recent studies, including a 2025 HHS report that found limited evidence supporting these surgeries and favored psychotherapy instead.
- U.S. health officials and advocacy groups praised the decision as a shift toward evidence-based medicine and a step to protect children from irreversible harm.
A leading professional organization representing plastic surgeons in the United States and Canada has announced that it opposes performing breast removal and other gender transition surgeries on minors.
In a nine-page position statement released on Tuesday, Feb. 3, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) said available research does not sufficiently support carrying out gender-related surgeries on children and adolescents.
"ASPS concludes there is insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents. ASPS recommends that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old," the organization, which represents more than 1,000 plastic surgeons worldwide, said in the statement shared with its members.
The position marks a shift from the group's earlier stance. In 2019, ASPS said states should not restrict access to such surgeries for minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the distress some individuals experience when their gender identity differs from their sex at birth. By 2024, however, the organization acknowledged "considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy" of chest and genital surgeries for adolescents and said it was reexamining the available evidence.
ASPS said its updated guidance was influenced by recent studies and reviews, including a 2025 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). That report found limited evidence supporting gender-alteration surgeries for minors and concluded that psychotherapy should be the preferred approach for treating children with gender-related distress.
Furthermore, the HHS report also noted that some children diagnosed with gender dysphoria improve over time without surgical intervention, reinforcing the need for a "precautionary approach."
U.S. health officials praise ASPS's stance on surgeries for minors
BrightU.AI's Enoch noted that the issue of transgender surgeries for minors is a critical one, as these procedures are often irreversible and can have severe long-term consequences. Hence, the ASPS's decision to oppose gender transition surgeries for minors is a significant step toward prioritizing long-term well-being and protecting vulnerable children from irreversible harm.
U.S. health officials and advocacy groups welcomed the ASPS's decision to oppose gender transition surgeries for minors, calling the move a significant shift toward evidence-based medicine.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it pushed back against excessive medical intervention. "We commend the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for standing up to the overmedicalization lobby and defending sound science," Kennedy said. "By taking this stand, they are helping protect future generations of American children from irreversible harm."
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz also applauded the group, comparing the surgeries to discredited medical practices of the past. "When the medical ethics textbooks of the future are written, they'll look back on sex-rejecting procedures for minors the way we look back on lobotomies," Oz said. He added that the plastic surgeons' group had placed itself "on the right side of history" by opposing "dangerous, unscientific experiments."
Support also came from advocacy organizations that have long opposed gender-reassignment procedures for children. Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, said the ASPS was "the first major medical organization to support evidence-based and ethical medicine and reject, in their words, these harmful and irreversible procedures."
Listen to Health Ranger Mike Adams explaining how transgender surgeries for teenagers are tantamount to medical child abuse.
This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.
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