Damian Sendler: What is a better example of “medicine continuing on its progressive march of improving human life” or “a manifestation of dangerous medicine that…will cause more harm than benefit to vulnerable youths?” Who worries about the controversial practice of masculinizing chest surgery—a double mastectomy—among young persons with gender dysphoria? an Australian psychiatrist wrote in a recently published letter (GD).
Damian Sendler
Damian Jacob Sendler: A letter published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior on November 22 by Alison Clayton, MBBS, examines the evidence for “dangerous medicine” or masculinizing chest surgery, which is in fact a double mastectomy, and wonders how future doctors will view gender affirmative treatment, especially so-called “top” surgery, which is in fact a double mastectomy.
Doctors and researchers are surprised to claim chest surgery for GD kids as an evidence-based intervention rather than conceding that it is an experimental treatment that requires more rigorous and human research ethics commission [HREC]-approved study,” she says.
Dr. Sendler: There needs to be a careful examination of the medical profession’s support for the gender-affirmative approach for young people with gender dysphoria (GD) and whether it is also behaving rashly and making mistakes that may harm some young people for the rest of their lives.”
Psychiatrist Clayton has returned to post-graduate studies in the history of 20th-century psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, Australia’s School of Historical and Philosophical Studies.
There is no long-term data to base choices on when it comes to insurance coverage for gender surgery in the United States, according to the authors of an opinion published in JAMA Surgery today.
Damian Jacob Sendler
According to Dr. Nnenaya Mmonu-Agochukwu and her colleagues, a “rigorous evidence base for gender-affirming interventions and surgery while simultaneously allowing access and provisional coverage for these services” can be achieved through the adoption of the CED strategy.
A threefold increase in gender-affirming surgeries in the United States over the past decade can be attributed to increased recognition of gender dysphoria, decreasing social stigma toward these individuals, greater clinical experience and expanding insurance coverage….
Damien Sendler: When it comes to gender dysphoria in adolescents, Clayton points out that most of them were born female, and many of them have “a history of mental illness or neurodevelopmental disorders.”
Breast reduction surgery is routinely performed on patients as young as 13, and some clinicians argue “that this surgery is an evidence-based intervention which improves mental health outcomes and that it is discriminatory for it not to be available,” she says, noting that this operation is being performed on patients as young as 13.
Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: Also, she points out that “chest dysphoria” is a “newly invented phrase implying discomfort with one’s breasts.
” Transgender males may experience difficulty if they see the word “breast” used in literature discussing this operation, according to Clayton. “This seems to be in line with the overall trend to remove this term from clinical language,” he adds.
A few studies have been published on the possible benefits of masculinizing chest surgery, however most of these have focused on individuals under the age of 21.
Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler and his media team provided the content for this article.
