According to an article written by Elise Takahama for the USC Center for Health and Journalism, Seattle is having a difficult time supplying the growing demand for gender-affirming surgery for teenagers. The article states “In Seattle, just two surgeons perform the full range of gender-affirming surgeries for teenagers and young adults, both at the same hospital. One provider often sees more than 20 patients and performs up to 12 surgeries a week. The pace hasn’t slowed in years.” The article doesn’t mention the hospital, nor does it mention the surgeons. That said, I’m going to assume they are talking about Seattle Children's Hospital since their website claims that “Seattle Children’s is the only pediatric academic medical center with fellowship-trained plastic surgeons who provide gender-affirming surgery in our region.” (Surgical Gender Affirmation Program)
Upon looking through these plastic surgeons on the Seattle Children’s website, you will find two surgeons with “surgical gender affirmation” listed as one of their specialties, along with biographies in their profile confirming that they perform surgeries on minors. The names listed are Russell Edward Ettinger, MD and Shane Douglas Morrison, MD, MS. (Physician finder search results)
Now, you may be wondering what ages are currently eligible for surgery. I would love to tell you. However, Seattle Children’s does not have a specific age requirement for most of the many surgeries they provide. They claim that genital procedures are only 18 and up at this time, but aside from that, their website states “For other surgeries, timing depends on many factors, like the patient’s stage of puberty and how surgery fits with the rest of their gender-related healthcare. A typical age is mid-teens or older.” (Surgical Gender Affirmation Program) The list of other surgeries includes Facial gender-affirming surgery, Gender-affirming breast augmentation with implants or fat grafting, Gender-affirming mastectomy with or without free nipple grafting, Gender-affirming breast/chest reduction, Gender-affirming body contouring and Revision surgery for gender-affirming surgery. If the extremists continue to get their way, it won’t be too long before genital surgery is available for minors on-demand.
If you think refusing to sign off on one of these irreversible and life altering-surgeries will protect your child from permanent damage, you might want to look into it a little more. This year, Governor Inslee passed a bill that will allow your child to simply run away from home if they want gender affirming surgery and you disapprove. This bill also allows minors living in other states to run away from home so they can bypass the rights of their parents in order to obtain these gender affirming medications and surgeries in Washington State. This New York Post article explains the bill in the following quote “An act relating to supporting youth,” or Senate Bill 5599, allows host homes for runaway youth “to house youth without parental permission.” Furthermore, the host homes do not need to notify parents about where their kids are or if they are getting medical interventions “if there is a compelling reason not to, which includes a youth seeking protected health services. “The “protected health care services” included “gender-affirming care,” which for minors arbitrarily included anything prescribed by a doctor to treat dysphoria, the bill said.” (Grossman).
After your child is in the protective custody of their host family, they will no longer need your permission to receive these surgeries. Being denied gender-affirming care at home is also a compelling argument in Washington State for youth to seek out emancipation or eligibility for the mature minor rule.
NO MINOR CAN CONSENT TO HAVING THEIR BODY PARTS REARRANGED. LET KIDS BE KIDS!
More information on the mature minor rule available at the following link:
https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dph/health-safety/health-centers-programs-services/public-health-centers/mature-minor-rule
References:
Takahama, Elise. “In the Pacific Northwest, Doctors Struggle to Meet Growing Demand for Gender Affirming Care.” Center for Health Journalism, 27 July 2023, centerforhealthjournalism.org/our-work/insights/pacific-northwest-doctors-struggle-meet-growing-demand-gender-affirming-care.
“Surgical Gender Affirmation Program.” Seattle Children’s Hospital, www.seattlechildrens.org/clinics/plastic-surgery/surgical-gender-affirmation-program/. Accessed 31 July 2023.
“Physician Finder Search Results.” Seattle Children’s Hospital, www.seattlechildrens.org/directory-search/?sp=Plastic%20Surgery&limit=10&page=1. Accessed 31 July 2023.
Grossman, Hannah. “Washington Bill to Allow Medical Transgender Interventions on Minors without Parental Consent.” New York Post, 17 Apr. 2023, nypost.com/2023/04/17/washington-bill-to-allow-medical-transgender-interventions-on-minors-without-parental-consent/.