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The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) on Tuesday issued a statement recommending that surgeons do not perform “breast/chest, genital, and facial gender surgery” on individuals under the age of 19.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) applauded the statement.
“Relying in part on the HHS report Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices, ASPS declared the evidence base supporting sex-rejecting procedures to be ‘low quality/low certainty.’ The ASPS position statement finds that ‘there is insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents,’” HHS stated in a release.
“We commend the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for standing up to the overmedicalization lobby and defending sound science,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said.
“By taking this stand, they are helping protect future generations of American children from irreversible harm,” he added.
🚨🚨THIS IS HUGE🚨🚨
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons announced it will no longer support gender-related surgical procedures for minors while it conducts a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence.
The organization cited concerns about limited high-quality data,… pic.twitter.com/FZWckXFfvG
— Do No Harm (@donoharm) February 3, 2026
The Hill has more:
While its position statement commented on hormonal gender-affirming care, the ASPS’s recommendation focused solely on surgical intervention, which advised that gender-affirming surgeries be delayed until 19.
“Available evidence suggests that a substantial proportion of children with prepubertal onset gender dysphoria experience resolution or significant reduction of distress by the time they reach adulthood, absent medical or surgical intervention,” the ASPS’s statement read. “Evidence regarding adolescent onset presentation, which has become increasingly common since the mid-2010s, is more limited but similarly does not allow for confident prediction of long-term trajectories.”
The organization cited a 2025 article from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which concluded that when it came to pediatric gender-affirming care, there had been a “rapid expansion and implementation of a clinical protocol that lacked sufficient scientific and ethical justification.” The article was not intended as a clinical practice guideline.
The statement follows a landmark decision in a medical malpractice lawsuit, where a New York jury awarded a 22-year-old woman who identified as a boy in her teenage years $2 million after suing doctors accused of pushing ‘gender-affirming treatments’ for minors.
The decision marked the first time a detransitioner’s malpractice case went before a jury and ended in a financial judgment.
With the statement, ASPS became the first major medical association in the United States to oppose gender transition surgeries for minors.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has recommended against gender transition surgeries for youths, becoming the first major medical association in the U.S. to narrow its guidance on pediatric gender care. https://t.co/yeR4zviNVM
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 3, 2026
HHS shared further:
“Today marks another victory for biological truth in the Trump administration,” said Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill. “The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has set the scientific and medical standard for all provider groups to follow.”
“When the medical ethics textbooks of the future are written, they’ll look back on sex-rejecting procedures for minors the way we look back on lobotomies,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD. “I applaud the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for placing itself on the right side of history by opposing these dangerous, unscientific experiments.”
“Almost daily, another major hospital system in America is ending the tragic and irreversible practice of sex-rejecting procedures for minors,” said HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart. “The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is bravely standing with Secretary Kennedy in courageously leading on this critical issue.”
ASPS was founded in 1931 and represents more than 11,000 physician members as a leading authority on cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery.
Citing the HHS report, the ASPS position statement describes the natural course of gender dysphoria, which considers what occurs when a condition remains untreated. Among children, the vast majority of those with gender dysphoria tend towards resolution without medical intervention, and among adolescents, existing evidence suggests that the majority will remit as well. The position statement emphasizes the HHS report’s consideration of the ethical implications of medical interventions for a condition that may be resolved without such interventions.
When considering the principle of autonomy, the HHS report concludes that “respect for patient autonomy does not negate clinicians’ professional and ethical obligation to protect and promote their patients’ health.” The ASPS position statement similarly finds that adolescent autonomy does not obligate a medical professional to provide sex-rejecting procedures not supported by evidence.
Read the full ASPS statement HERE.