A children’s hospital in Seattle is refusing to back off providing ‘gender-affirming’ surgeries that permanently change the physiques of young people.
The doubling down on the potentially problematic surgeries for teens by Seattle Children’s Hospital comes even as pressure nationwide increases on medical facilities to stop performing them on adolescents, The Daily Caller reported.
The hospital’s website promotes the institution as “the only pediatric academic medical center with fellowship-trained plastic surgeons who provide gender-affirming surgery in our region — Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.” In a statement to The Daily Caller, a hospital spokesperson said that “gender-affirming” surgeries will continue on pediatric patients in spite of increased opposition to them around the country.
“We will continue to offer evidence-based gender-affirming care because it is lifesaving care and is aligned with our mission to help every patient live their healthiest and most fulfilling life possible,” a Seattle Children’s spokesman told the outlet. “Seattle Children’s providers are specifically trained to care for the unique needs of adolescents, teens and young adults. This allows our team to offer personalized care that is tailored to meet each patient’s individual needs and goals.”
The “Surgical Gender Affirmation Program” at the hospital says it “treats teens and young adults” who have gender identity issues via “complex procedures, including face and neck surgery, top surgery (breast/chest), bottom surgery (genitals) and body contouring.”
The hospital claims that patients have to wait until they are 18 years old in order to obtain genital surgery. However, Seattle Children’s also states that “a typical age is mid-teens or older” for other procedures, the Daily Caller reported, quoting the institution’s website.
The report adds:
Seattle Children’s website list several invasive procedures it performs on its pediatric patients, including double mastectomies to remove the breast tissue, thyroid cartilage surgery to create or remove an Adam’s apple, and mandible contouring to change the shape of the jaw.
The hospital provides resources for pediatric patients who experience common side effects of these irreversible surgeries, like non-functioning sex organs and infertility. In case the first surgery does not “meet the patient’s needs or goals,” it offers revision surgeries that “offer options to improve the results,” according to the website.
In its statement to the Daily Caller, the hospital spokesperson defended the procedures, describing the irreversible surgeries as “lifesaving care.”
“Seattle Children’s stands with the Children’s Hospital Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics in condemning all violence and threats against any hospital or institution or that provides evidence-based gender-affirming care,” a hospital spokesman said. “As providers of this care, we are witnessing firsthand the negative impact this is having on the wellbeing of our transgender and gender-diverse patients and their families, as well as our healthcare providers. Above all, we are committed to keeping our staff, patients and families safe.”
