Marci Bowers, the president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), said during a Sunday appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation that kids don’t get sex changes except in extreme circumstances.
“Surgery really is not done under the age of 18, except in severe cases, usually top surgery for trans-masculine persons,” Bowers, who is also transgender, said. “And even that is rare, I think the estimates are something like 57 surgeries under the age of 18 were done for trans individuals. So the majority of people though, that are- that do identify as TGD or transgender diverse, don’t access even medicine or surgery.”
When CBS host Margaret Brennan pressed Bowers on why WPATH stripped its guidelines of age restrictions for sex change surgery, the gynecologist and surgeon reiterated that minors don’t transition all that often. (RELATED: Advocates Say WPATH Could ‘Come Crashing Down’ As Judge Demands Treasure Trove Of Internal Documents)
“But the important point is that care is individualized. And so age isn’t really the issue. Generally, it’s adulthood and- except in severe cases. And, you know, again, a draft guideline means it gets input from around the world, with available science that provides input and consensus, so this is what the WPATH standards of care are all about. They’re consensus and science based guidelines.”
Bowers also added that, “we have decades of experience with trans treatment overall. And- and that shows unequivocally that treatment is beneficial.”
Doctors have called into question the methodology of two key Dutch studies used to justify child sex changes. The two studies — published in 2011 and 2015 — tracked adolescent health as they underwent surgeries, hormone therapies, and puberty blockers. One issue with the study was that the participants were also offered psychotherapy, meaning the conclusion didn’t control for whether the sex changes or the therapy alleviated feelings of gender dysphoria. Researchers also only included “best case scenarios” for patients in the studies.
WPATH surgeons themselves admit that, “anecdotal reports have shown that vaginoplasties are being performed on minors by surgeons in the United States.” Media outlets have claimed that doctors did not perform sex changes on children at Boston Children’s Hospital, which has come under fire for allegedly offering hysterectomies to young girls. But the gender center’s staff supported some genital surgeries for minors, according to a 2019 paper titled “Ethical Issues Considered When Establishing a Pediatrics Gender Surgery Center.” Boston Children’s Hospital performed 204 “gender affirmation” surgeries from 2017 to 2020, according to the National Institutes of Health.
WPATH recently did away with any minimum age requirement to undergo sex change surgeries or cross-sex hormone therapy. The leading transgender health organization also set standards of care for those with a “eunuch” gender identity in 2022, recommending castration as a treatment option. In creating these guidelines, WPATH used information from the Eunuch Archive in setting these standards of care, which the medical organization itself described as “filled with fantasy,” containing stories of child castration, pedophilia and sexual torture.