Over 30 teen and preteen girls who identified as transgender had their breasts removed at a Northern California healthcare system from 2013 to 2020, according to a study published in May 2022.
The study focused on female patients who received a mastectomy under the Kaiser Permanente Northern California healthcare system by measuring the patient’s “gender-affirming mastectomy incidence, as well as postoperative complications, including regret.” The patients who received a mastectomy ranged from 12 to 17 years old, with over 30 of them between the ages of 12 and 14. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Gender Doctor Says Parents Who Oppose Transitioning Their Kid Have ‘Mental Illness’)
Moreover, at least two patients were 12 years old, and six patients were 13 years old, at the time of referral.
The number of transgender patients who had mastectomies in the next age category, from 14 to 15 years old, jumped to over 50, while at least 60 of the patients were between the ages of 16 and 17, according to the study. Under Kaiser’s care guidelines, doctors could refer minor patients for a mastectomy even if they hadn’t been on hormones or lived in the “desired gender role” for a full year.
“Clinicians at KPNC provide care in accordance with the WPATH guidelines, which state that gender-affirming mastectomy may be advised for patients <18 years preferably after living in the desired gender role for at least one year without hormone therapy as an absolute requirement,” the study reads. “Adolescents with gender dysphoria can be referred to the KPNC Multi-specialty Transitions (MST) Department by their pediatrician, endocrinologist, therapist, parents, or self if ≥ 13 years of age.”
In a Northern California health system, 209 preteen or teen girls underwent double mastectomy as gender-affirming care between 2013 and 2020.
15% of these girls were 12- or 13-years old.
That’s 32 girls who were 12- or 13 years old when they had their breasts removed. pic.twitter.com/o9YbDw5lsx
— Kevin Bass PhD MS (@kevinnbass) February 14, 2024
The researchers lamented “barriers” to transgender medical procedures in certain states and said that they hoped to confirm their belief that regret and complications post-surgery were low.
The study found that the demand for transgender mastectomies increased by 13-fold over the seven years and that 7.3% had complications post surgery and 10.9% went back for a revision, “any subsequent procedure that involves the insertion, removal, and/or replacement of a prosthesis or implant.”
Of the 209 patients, only 137 had a follow-up of at least one year for the “evaluation of complications and revisions” and were included in the total. Out of that subset, the researchers determined that 10 patients had a total of 15 complications including “hematoma, wound infection, seroma, hypertrophic scar requiring steroid injection, or suture granuloma.”
The study also stated that 127 of the patients said they were satisfied with the procedure, while only two of the patients, who were both 16 at the time, expressed regret, with eight left undocumented. The researchers noted that one of the two patients with regrets was in an “un-affirming and unsupportive home and social environment.”
An August 2023 study found that increases in sex-change procedures for minors had skyrocketed from 2016 to 2019. Teens aged 12 to 18 made up 3,678 of the overall patients, with 3,215 getting breast or chest reconstruction and 405 patients undergoing genital surgery.
Kaiser Permanente did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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