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Natalie's avatar

“Gender-affirming surgeries are not common among those under age 18 and are usually limited to “‘top surgery,’ or a mastectomy. Breast reduction surgery is also one of the most common forms of plastic surgery in cisgender teenagers.”

I have no words. This is so disingenuous and absolutely NOT comparable.

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mungeribabu's avatar

Thank you, Jesse! Here is a relevant story to this regrettable chapter on the state of gender science in America today:

When the New York Times published the article "They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost?" (https://nyti.ms/42pM5ak) on Nov. 14, 2022, one of the letters they received was from Marc B. Garnick from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (https://bit.ly/3VHHtKn), and more importantly, one of three academic principal clinical investigators of studies that led to the initial F.D.A. approval of Lupron [the puberty blocker drug that gets used most often] for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer. Yes, for metastatic prostate cancer. That letter (see https://nyti.ms/3nwblwJ), published two weeks later on Nov. 28, 2022, said this (and I will quote it in full for those who might not have access behind the paywall): "As one of three academic principal clinical investigators of studies that led to the initial F.D.A. approval of Lupron for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer — and having studied this class of drugs, which includes puberty blockers, for more than four decades — I can say that physicians are still learning and continue to be concerned about the safety of these agents in adults. Woefully little safety data are available for the likely more vulnerable younger population. Bone loss in adult men who have been on these agents is significant [Jesse, you mentioned this topic in your article - that you were less familiar with - it turns out that the concerns you heard were true], and a leading cause of morbidity with long-term administration. Other safety issues include cognitive, metabolic and cardiovascular effects, still under intense investigation. The prudent and ethical use of such agents in the younger population should demand that every pubertal or pre-pubertal child be part of rigorous clinical research studies that evaluate both the short-term and longer-term effects of these agents to better define the true risks and benefits rather than relying on anecdotal information."

So opines the principal investigator of the drug. Need we say more?

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