Major medical association breaks from the herd on the issue of sex-change mutilations for kids

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, several of whose members are currently being sued by detransitioners, has reportedly distanced itself from the practice of providing children with sex-change mutilations, casting doubt on such procedures' value and efficacy.

The organization, which represents roughly 11,000 members in the U.S. and Canada, recently told Manhattan Institute fellow Leor Sapir that it "has not endorsed any organization's practice recommendations for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria" — an apparent reference to the recommendations advanced by the radical and scandal-plagued World Professional Association of Transgender Health.

The ASPS also acknowledged that there is "considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions," adding that "the existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty."

Sapir noted:

In evidence-based medicine, "low quality" evidence means something very specific: that the true effect of an intervention is likely to be markedly different from the results reported in studies. As one expert in evidence-based medicine put it, low quality "doesn't just mean something esoteric about study design, it means there’s uncertainty about whether the long-term benefits outweigh the harms."

The feedback from the ASPS echoes some of the conclusions reached in the groundbreaking Cass Review, which effectively hammered the final nail into the coffin for the "gender-affirming care" narrative earlier this year.

Dr. Hilary Cass, a British medical doctor who previously served as president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, was appointed by the National Health Service in England in 2020 to lead an independent investigation into Britain's sex-change regime and its youth-facing services.

Blaze News previously reported that the Cass' 388-page final report, which was released in April, revealed that:

• the "systematic review showed no clear evidence that social transition in childhood has any positive or negative mental health outcomes, and relatively weak evidence for any effect in adolescence";
• puberty blockers compromise bone density and have no apparent impact on "gender dysphoria or body satisfaction";
• there is "insufficient and/or inconsistent evidence about the effects of puberty suppression on gender dysphoria, mental and psychosocial health, cognitive development, cardio-metabolic risk, and fertility";
• there is "a lack of high-quality research assessing the outcomes of hormones for masculinisation or feminisation in adolescents with gender dysphoria or incongruence and few studies that undertake long-term follow-up"; and
• so-called gender-affirming care is "an area of remarkably weak evidence."

While the report proved consequential in the U.K., it has been less impactful on this side of the Atlantic, at least with major medical associations.

'I think that's where you're misleading the public.'

The American Academy of Pediatrics, for instance, still has WPATH recommendations included in its guidance. Last summer, the organization — which represents around 67,000 pediatricians — reaffirmed its support for child sex changes.

Cass told the New York Times in May that the AAP is "holding on to a position that is now demonstrated to be out of date by multiple systematic reviews."

"It wouldn't be too much of a problem if people were saying, 'This is clinical consensus and we're not sure.' But what some organizations are doing is doubling down on saying the evidence is good. And I think that's where you're misleading the public. You need to be honest about the strength of the evidence and say what you’re going to do to improve it," said Cass.

Sapir learned of ASPS' uncertainty after contacting the group last month for comment about the leaked World Professional Association of Transgender Health internal documents detailed by Environmental Progress and discussed at length by nationally syndicated radio host and co-founder of Blaze Media Glenn Beck.

WPATH members were quoted in Environmental Progress researcher Mia Hughes' report discussing giving irreversible medical treatments to mentally compromised patients incapable of providing consent; the inability of parents and adolescents to comprehend the long-term fallout of so-called gender affirmation; putting a gloss on post-operation regrets; and the fallout of sex-change mutilations.

The ASPS told Sapir that it is aware that WPATH suppressed systematic reviews of evidence while developing its so-called standards of care.

Blaze News previously noted that the Biden-Harris administration's transvestic assistant secretary of Health and Human Services successfully pressured WPATH to remove minimum age requirements from its standards of care document.

The ASPS indicated it is now "reviewing and prioritizing several initiatives that best support evidence-based gender surgical care to provide guidance to plastic surgeons."

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