Plastic surgeon cites 'emotional blackmail,' poor evidence in warning against youth gender surgeries

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has doubled down on its warning against transgender surgeries for minors under 19, a move one member told Fox News reflects a broader return to "common sense" and science over ideology.

"[They're] really looking at the evidence, and their statement says that the benefits do not outweigh the harms, and [that] the current evidence is low quality or poor quality," Dr. Sheila Nazarian told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday. 

"These are kids we're talking about. Many of us have been very loud on this issue, and I'm so happy to see that the American Society of Plastic Surgeons is doubling down on their statement from last year."

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The organization updated its guidance on Tuesday to formally recommend delaying irreversible gender-related surgical procedures until patients are at least 19 years old, citing long-term data from Europe that raised concerns about outcomes for minors.

Nazarian noted that "progressive-leaning" European countries like England, Sweden and Finland have already halted such procedures for minors, citing long-term findings that also influenced ASPS's decision.

When asked how the procedures have been allowed to proceed without evidence supporting their efficacy for mental health, Nazarian said she initially thought doctors were doing the right thing until she approached one with questions about the data.

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"I said, 'What about all this long-term data coming out of Europe?' He said, 'What long-term data coming out of Europe?' And at that point, I realized this is ideology-driven. It is money-driven," she said.

"Hospital systems and physicians that do these surgeries have made a lot of money. And again, this should not be how we treat our patients and especially not children."

Nazarian went further, arguing that many minors who underwent the procedures had underlying mental health or developmental conditions and were not given adequate informed consent.

"Thirty to 60%, based on what study you look at, of these children had a concurrent medical, mental, behavioral diagnosis like autism, like depression, like anxiety, and these doctors and psychologists told their parents, 'You can either have a transgender child or a dead child,' and that is emotional blackmail," she said.

"There's no evidence showing that these procedures actually decrease suicidality, so they were lied to. They were not given informed consent, and based off of that, I really think that they have a lawsuit."