Surgeons guild recommends against trans surgery for minors.

Finally some common sense.

Good Sense on Transgender Children

A surgeons guild recommends against surgery for minors.

By The Editorial Board, WSJ

Feb. 9, 2026 5:32 pm ET

Progressive politics has infected much of today’s medical establishment, and no more so than in surgical and hormonal treatments for children with doubts about their biological sex. So credit the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for restoring some common sense.

Last week the ASPS issued a formal position recommending against gender-related surgeries for patients under 19. There’s “insufficient evidence” of “a favorable risk-benefit ratio” for endocrine or surgical interventions for children, the surgeons guild said.

The group said that recent research has “contributed to a clearer understanding of potential harms” from such treatments. It also cautioned plastic surgeons that “medical decision-making competence among minors is a matter of debate, particularly when patients are experiencing distress and considering treatments with lifelong consequences.”

The ASPS has long taken a more conservative position than other physicians’ groups on gender-related medical interventions for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics officially supports “gender-affirming care” for minors. But last week the American Medical Association also said gender surgery “should generally be deferred to adulthood.”

The plastic surgeons’ statement cited the landmark 2024 Cass Review from the United Kingdom, among other research. That review warned that the scarce studies on gender medicine are often of “poor quality.” The Cass Review added that clinicians have no way of knowing whether or not children will have “an enduring trans identity” or transitory gender distress, and it recommended a holistic treatment approach that includes screening for other neurodevelopmental and mental-health conditions.

A recent case in New York state illustrates the potential harm of gender surgeries for children. A jury last month found that a psychologist and surgeon had committed malpractice over a double mastectomy performed on a 16-year-old without adequate consent. The plaintiff, now 22, no longer identifies as transgender and testified that it is “hard to face that you are disfigured for life,” according to an Epoch Times report of the court proceedings.

She won $2 million in damages, which should get the attention of doctors whether they heed the plastic surgeons or not.