Do No Harm Applauds ASPS for Rejecting Sex-Denying Surgeries for Children

Today, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) released a position statement recommending surgeons do not perform sex-denying surgical procedures on minors.

The ASPS is the first major medical association to reject such harmful interventions.

“High praise to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for taking an important step toward ending the unscientific and harmful practice of sex-rejecting procedures on minors,” said Do No Harm Chairman Stanley Goldfarb, MD. “The ASPS becomes the first major medical organization to support evidence-based and ethical medicine and reject, in their words, these harmful and irreversible procedures.” 

“The ASPS’s thoughtful, scientific, and well-reasoned statement today is a model for other medical organizations — namely the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others — to follow and disavow their previous support for experimental and unscientific interventions,” said Dr. Goldfarb. “This fight is not over, and we will continue to protect American children by exposing any organization that spreads gender lies.”

The ASPS position statement cited the Department of Health and Human Services’s May 2025 comprehensive review of the evidence supporting sex-denying interventions for children, as well as the United Kingdom’s 2024 Cass Review; both reviews found that the evidence supporting these interventions was weak.

The ASPS position statement further stated that there is insufficient evidence supporting “endocrine” interventions in children. 

The ASPS position reads as follows:

“Consistent with ASPS’s August 2024 statement that the overall evidence base for gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions is low certainty, and in light of recent publications reporting very low/low certainty of evidence regarding mental health outcomes, along with emerging concerns about potential long-term harms and the irreversible nature of surgical interventions in a developmentally vulnerable population, ASPS concludes there is insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents. ASPS recommends that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.”

Do No Harm applauds the ASPS for following the evidence and urges other medical associations to follow suit.

Simply put, sex-denying medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical interventions are not well-supported as treatments for minors suffering from gender dysphoria.

These interventions pose serious risks and may cause major irreversible harm.

Indeed, several European countries already recognize the experimental nature of so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors and have limited children’s access to these interventions.

Although the ASPS did not endorse laws restricting these interventions, its position statement is a crucial step forward for the medical field and a sign that the tide is turning against gender ideology.

The ASPS position statement also drew praise from the Department of Health and Human Services.

“We commend the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for standing up to the overmedicalization lobby and defending sound science,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “By taking this stand, they are helping protect future generations of American children from irreversible harm.”

Do No Harm once again applauds the ASPS for standing up to gender ideology and following the evidence.

We urge other medical associations to do the same.