In a medical and cultural stance that defies so-called “gender-affirming care,” the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) believes children should not be prescribed medications and undergo surgeries if they struggle with gender dysphoria.
To share its views, and recruit more like-minded physicians, ACPeds has produced a video “Doctor, Heal Thyself: Restoring Evidence-Based Pediatric Care.”
Dr. Jill Simmons, ACPeds executive director, told AFN a majority of physicians across the country oppose the transgender-related medical protocols from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Endocrine Society.
“These so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ protocols that call for puberty blockers and high levels of opposite-sex hormones and surgeries," Simmons said.
Two other medical groups, American Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Medical Association, now recommend that "surgical interventions" on minors be deferred to adulthood.
Their backtracking comes after a 22-year-old woman, a detransitioner, recently won $2 million in damages in a landmark lawsuit against New York doctors. The woman sued over her transgender surgery, a mastectomy, that took place when she was a teenager.
“We believe from the pediatricians we've talked to that they do not go along with this. The majority of Americans do not go along with this,” Simmons said. "It's common sense.”
