How Common Is Gender Surgery For Kids?

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Executive Producer: Doctor Mike
Production Director and Editor: Dan Owens
Managing Editor and Producer: Sam Bowers
Editor and Designer: Caroline Weigum
Editor: Juan Carlos Zuniga

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** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **

[Lizardldy]

I teach at a trauma informed private school. About half of our students are LGBTQIA Since we are a safe haven. We have never had a student have gender affirming surgery but I have seen students be pressured by their parents to get gastric bypass when they have felt like their teens were overweight (rather than trying exercise and eating right). That truly shocked me.

[Mongolia]

I love how Dr. Mike isn’t discriminating and is actually curious and trying to figure out what people feel about these surgeries

Edit: thank you for the likes

[amandah]

I love the way Dr Mike double checked to make sure he was using the best terminology, it shows respect and a desire to understand. I also love that the guest answers the question without being defensive. I feel like society has lost the ability to ask questions respectfully and to answer respectful questions in an equally respectful way. If people are too uncomfortable or fearful of asking a question all that's left is distrust and hate.

[CossackGene]

Recently learned that of the gender-affirming surgeries performed on minors in the US each year, the vast majority (like over 90%) are on cis boys with gynecomastia.

[emilioortegon]

I knew this one girl back in high school that had gotten some of her breast tissue removed for health reasons regarding back pain.

[dylanwenz]

Most surgeons require you to be 18, but surgeons who do operate on minors also require you to be at least 16 and have been socially transitioned for a certain number of years and have been on HRT for at least one year to start the top surgery process, plus have both parents consent and the money to get the surgery. Idk why people think they’re doing these surgeries left and right on random little girls who show a slight interest in trucks instead of princesses. It’s a really difficult process and there’s a whole team of medical professionals involved.

[ottofox]

Trans man here you got top surgery at 16. One of the best decisions of my life! I was using chest binders before, and after top surgery, I realized it took some time for me to recover some of my lung capacity after my ribs being bound every day for years! Having it sooner not only greatly improved my mental health and confidence but also saved more damage to my lungs and ribs.

[Broccoli_Highkicks]

But, but... I saw people on tv that were sending their sons to school and they were coming home as daughters!

[pedrostormrage]

"You're weighing the risk of surgery against the risks of mental health sequelae (complications) these patients might be having" I feel many people only know/consider the former (making it easy to be against it), but simply ignore the latter (not knowing the full picture is what leads to a lack of empathy and hasty judgements about the topic).

[claratalbot]

I love that, Dr. Mike is asking in a way that is trying to understand the process better. We need more medical professionals like this because it would help, at least in part, the misinformation we're seeing be spread that children are being given hormones or have GRS scheduled the second they say their trans. Any surgery has a lot of steps involved to endure the well-being and safety of the patient

[TessHKM]

I think one thing that would've been useful to mention (and I hope was mentioned in the full discussion) to give some perspective is that breast reduction is a perfectly routine surgery for cis adolescents who experience physical discomfort due to their breasts (idk about the statistics, but I say "routine" because to my understanding, it doesn’t involve anything like this whole song and dance where you need to confer with the High Council - it's considered a "safe and effective procedure for relieving neck and back pain" and comes along with some moderate guidelines, like "wait until the breasts are done growing", which seems self explanatory).

[alyssagggghik]

I just want to throw this in about top surgery as well- sometimes it can be a safer long term option than what some of these older teen children are doing to mitigate their dysphoria- which is unhealthy binding practices especially if you are a teen with a lot of chest tissue. Obviously any surgical procedure has immediate risks and healing time, but long term binding can cause chronic spinal issues, bruised and fractured ribs, breathing issues, and permanently damaged chest structures. So, there is a very very good reason why this is considered for some adolescents before age 18, if the alternative is them binding unsafely for years with a developing body.

[kensurdity]

Thanks Dr Mike for bringing topics like this up

[ThinkForYourself]

There is so much information out there about these things. We need professionals to clear it up.

[tendays]

As someone working in mental health, he is downplaying how bad it can get. We are talking about someone that is actively considering unaliving themselves if they don't get the surgery, even after trying a bunch of alternatives (both medication and therapy-wise), and nothing working except for gender affirming care. It's only done when it's the last thing that would save them, and even then sometimes they don't get it until they are 18. I think most people don't understand what being trans with heavy dysphoria is like, and how dangerous it can be.

[LilyJaneH]

I really appreciate these shorts being honest, fair, and measured. I’ve seen too much disinformation on this topic, and it really makes my heart ache.
I’m trans myself, and I’d have loved to have had a better understanding of what that means, what options are available when and that I’m not alone when I was younger. It would have saved me so much heartache and pain

[verb]

When he says "adolescents" that means teenagers 16-17 years old, EXTREMELY RARELY is it done any younger and you'd need to get a handful of different psych evals and doctor's letters. I got top surgery at 17 10 years ago, best decision ever

[oopsday]

Just wanted to pop in here and reaffirm this as someone who isnt a doctor but got surgery coming right out of adolescence! Its VERY uncommon to get top surgery very young and a lot of surgeons dont feel comfortable operating on people or opening the conversation until theyre at least 17. In my personal experience I started looking around when i was about sixteen, and only was able to really get into contact with surgeons through my parents when i was about seventeen but even then only one surgeon who was not even from my state was willing to discuss doing the surgery on someone under the age of 18. But that was a little while ago so things have probably changed since then! Likewise in order to get top surgery a mental health professional doesnt just "have to be on board" they have to right a letter not only affirming that the adolescent in question is confident in their gender identity in a way that atleast means that chest tissue is distressing and causing dysphoria and having top surgery will alleviate the dysphoria. They. also will asses if the adolescent is in the right headspace for the surgery, so in the case that their mental health is poor they wont make permanent decisions under duress. They entire process is littered with both official paperwork "are you sures" as well as conversations with the surgeon themselves who will try and make sure the adolescent has the surgery. So yeah, free top surgery coupons are not being tossed out from high rise buildings like flier for any gender-questioning tween to get a hold of. 😂

[amandaananda]

Worth noting - CISGENDER teenage girls do this, too! If you're okay with a cis teen doing it, but not a trans teen, I think it's worth doing some reflection as to why.

[Skye__]

REALLY appreciate the accuracy & transparency, here ❤