In the first successful lawsuit of its kind, a New York jury has awarded a 22-year old detransitioner $2 million in damages against her psychologist and surgeon. Based on the psychologist’s recommendation, she underwent a double mastectomy at the age of 16. She later came to regret it, testified to ongoing physical pain, and no longer identifies as transgender or non-binary. Her mother initially opposed the surgery, but felt pressured by the psychologist’s insistence that the girl was at high risk of suicide if she did not have surgery. The jury was not asked to rule on pediatric gender surgery more broadly, but on the specific evidence in this one case, and concluded that there had been inadequate communication between the therapist and surgeon and poor evaluation of the patient’s psychological history, doubts, and understanding of the future consequences of the procedure.
Malpractice Verdict Raises Questions about Pediatric Gender Surgery
