Detransitioner Fox Varian, who, as an autistic 16-year-old suffering from gender dysphoria, identified as a boy and underwent a double mastectomy in 2019, recommended by her doctor and psychologist, won a $2 million judgment against the medical professionals by proving she was coerced by them into having the life-altering surgery.
Drs. Kenneth Einhorn, the psychologist, and surgeon Simon Chin admitted at trial that they had not followed standards of care with the teenager. Einhorn admitted that writing the referral letter without including notes about Varian’s expressed doubts about her identity did not follow standards of care, and Chin, who testified he met with the child for only two half-hour appointments, admitted that he would not have conducted the surgery had he known about Varian’s doubts. Both acknowledged that Varian’s questioning of her gender identity only four months before surgery failed to meet the standard that gender identity should be stable for at least six months before a transition surgery.
Varian’s mother testified she originally opposed the surgery, but said she was alarmed at the depression her daughter was experiencing and feared she would attempt suicide, noting the child had begun cutting herself.
Varian testified at the trial:
“I was 16. And I was really, really mentally ill, obviously. I obviously wasn’t mature enough to make the decision to have surgery. And I certainly wasn’t mature enough to handle the aftermath.” Varian added she continued to struggle with depression and mental health issues post-surgery.
According to coverage in The New York Post, Varian’s case was the first of its kind in which the plaintiff was victorious, but there are 28 detransitioner lawsuits in various stages currently in the U.S.
We reached out to Dr. Paul Bauer, a pediatric ICU doctor at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, for his reaction to the jury award:
“I’m happy to hear of the results of the case. Fox Varian and her mother argued they were taken advantage of and poorly cared for. The awards were made by the jury on the grounds of malpractice. I agree with others in the public that the results of this case will embolden other lawsuits. I also believe, with many others in the public space, that the success of these lawsuits will change the official recommendations of large academic bodies that have a substantial amount to lose going forward, depending on how they navigate the evolving legal landscape.”
And going forward, as a result of this case?
“There will likely be more physicians, collaborating nurses and healthcare professionals that will be found at fault in some cases that go forward. Perhaps even large professional organizations will also be found at fault.
“The phenomenon of transgendeism in children, in my opinion, is a symptom of a much larger phenomenon in society that is marked by a loss of grounding in normal human relationships. Children are losing their relationships with their parents and grandparents. More and more, even friendships and the bonds of kin are being atomized through the replacement of face-to-face relationships with virtual or interfaced relationships. It seems to me that many more parents today are adrift in their understanding of innate responsibilities rooted in their sexuality.
“Transgenderism strikes me as an expression of an ethos that fails to recognize that things are what they are. It is an expression of a world view that seeks rather to bend the world according to desires and wishes about how one says things are. In a sense, transgenderism is an expression of trans humanism. It says that I can be whatever I want to be and that I am not necessarily who I am, with my particular attributes and gifts and handicaps, including the sexual and biological attributes that define me. It is a logical extension of a world view that repudiates identity, creating a vacuum that is subsequently filled with fear, performance, defensiveness, and self justification.
“I believe an endorsement of transgenderism in our medical societies has harmed many children and many families. It has stained the practice of pediatric medicine, particularly within the fields of endocrinology, psychiatry, and plastic surgery. It has also diminished the ethical authority of our representative professional organizations. It is telling that the American Medical Association and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons have only now changed their official recommendations on transgender care for minors.”
