Big News. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons Opposes Gender Transition Surgeries for Individuals Under 19 Years of Age

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS, by its initials in English) has issued a firm recommendation against performing gender transition surgeries on young people under 19 years of age.

This position, announced on February 3, 2026, is based on the evaluation that the available scientific evidence is of «low quality and certainty,» which does not demonstrate a favorable balance between risks and benefits for endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents.

The ASPS, which represents more than 11,000 board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States, emphasizes that procedures such as chest, genital, and facial surgeries must be postponed until adulthood to protect a vulnerable population and avoid irreversible harm.

The ASPS statement arises in a context of increasing federal scrutiny under the Trump administration, which has promoted regulations to restrict funds to providers offering these treatments to minors.

Unlike other medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society, which have supported gender-affirmative care including surgeries in selected cases, the ASPS breaks with this consensus by prioritizing scientific rigor over ideological pressures.

The society highlights that recent studies reveal uncertainties in long-term mental health outcomes and emerging risks such as physical complications and regret, aligning with cautious approaches adopted in European countries like the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Finland, where independent reviews such as the Cass Report have led to similar restrictions.

This step by the ASPS highlights the flaws in the approach promoted by progressive sectors, which have pushed these interventions without solid evidence, exposing minors to procedures that permanently alter the body during critical stages of development.

The society affirms that ethical care must balance compassion with developmental considerations and future well-being, opposing the criminalization of medical practice but urging evidence-based self-regulation.

Additionally, the ASPS reaffirms its commitment to the dignity of all patients, including those who detransition or experience regret, without conditioning respect on a specific clinical path.

The recommendation is not retroactive nor a judgment on past practices, but a prospective guide to foster responsible innovation in plastic surgery. Leaders from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have praised this position for prioritizing child safety, citing their own report on pediatric gender dysphoria that concludes there is insufficient evidence to support these treatments.

This development could influence state policies, where nearly half of the states have already imposed restrictions on surgeries and hormones for minors, and on growing litigation against medical providers.

In conclusion, the ASPS decision represents a triumph of scientific evidence over ideology in medicine, by recognizing that the majority of childhood gender dysphoria cases resolve naturally without irreversible interventions, and that exposing minors to high-risk surgeries without solid evidence of long-term benefit equates to irresponsible experimentation.

This stance not only protects children from possible permanent harm but also invites a more honest and fact-based debate, always prioritizing the comprehensive well-being of the most vulnerable over political agendas that have rushed controversial medical treatments.

Previously, we had reported this in Gateway Hispanic in relation to similar cases of interventions in minors, such as the resignation of Dr. May Lau in Texas for prescribing gender transition hormones to 21 minors, highlighting the legal and ethical consequences of these practices:

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