CMA Applauds the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for Questioning Gender Surgical Treatments
August 15, 2024
The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) applauds the recent statements from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) published in City Journal regarding the treatment of gender dysphoria in adolescents. CMA agrees with ASPS that “there is considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria,” and that “the existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty.”
CMA understands that these patients are indeed suffering and deserve the most compassionate and best medical care, as was noted in CMA’s Position Paper, The Ideology of Gender Harms Children released last year.
Systematic studies show that compassionate psychological care allows up to 85-90% of these adolescents to resolve their dysphoria without the harmful and irreversible effects of pubertal blockers, cross-sex hormones and mutilating surgery.
Current treatment recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrine Society, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, and the American Medical Association only make the suffering of these patients worse, and are contrary to the treatments now adopted by many countries including England, Scotland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, France, Australia, and New Zealand. These countries have prioritized psychological care over medical gender affirming interventions.
Although gender dysphoria is a psychological diagnosis, gender ideology is a belief system based on a false human anthropology which undermines the intrinsic value and uniqueness of the human person.
“Gender ideology is blind to the abundant scientific data already published on the treatment of gender dysphoria and physicians promoting it ignore the harms this belief causes to thousands of confused young patients,” said CMA President Dr. Michelle Stanford.
At CMA’s 93rd Annual Educational Conference in September, participants will hear from men and women who have been hurt by this ideology and the long term health problems they now suffer as a result.
“Gender dysphoria is a psychological diagnosis as listed in DSM V,” said board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Al Oliva, also a CMA Board Member and member of ASPS. “From our first days in plastic surgery residency training, we were taught that there are no surgical solutions to psychological problems and that remains true today. ”
CMA stands with ASPS and other medical associations that bravely speak the truth about evidence-based treatment of gender dysphoria in adolescents.
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