Hundreds of girls aged 12 or younger have undergone “top surgery” to remove their breasts in the United States since 2017, data suggests.
And more than 6,000 girls aged between 13 and 18 underwent “gender affirming” surgeries in that period, according to an analysis seen by DailyMail.com.
This comes after the Biden administration spoke out against transgender surgeries for children in June for the first time, marking a significant reversal from its previous stance.
High-profile Democrats, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, have previously claimed that sex-change surgeries are “not done” on children.
Researchers at the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute conducted what they call the largest-ever analysis of care for transgender children, reviewing more than 4 billion insurance claims from 155 million people between 2017 and 2023.
The chart above shows the number of gender-affirming top surgeries performed in the US by year according to the analysis.
In total, they found that between 5,288 and 6,294 children under the age of 18 underwent “top surgeries” during the six years studied.
‘Top surgery’ or double mastectomy is a type of gender-affirming treatment in which the breasts are removed to masculinize the chest.
There were also between 50 and 179 girls aged 12 or younger who reportedly underwent the procedure.
The team calculated two estimates, one “conservative” (using only children diagnosed with gender dysphoria) and one “liberal” (which also considered children diagnosed with other disorders, such as an endocrine disorder, who later underwent a double mastectomy).
Researchers said doctors may sometimes record a child suffering from gender dysphoria as having a separate condition.
The team said, however, that its figures may be an underestimate. because they did not include procedures paid out of pocket.
Puberty in girls typically begins around age 10 or 11, with breast development being the first physical change young girls experience.
The map above shows states that have banned aspects of gender-affirming care for children.
Breast removal surgery leaves long scars on the chest beneath the nipples and also exposes children to the risk of serious infection or loss of sensation in the breast or nipple area. It cannot be reversed.
At least 23 Republican states have banned surgery for minors, citing concerns about its health effects and young people’s ability to understand the effect of the procedures.
But at the federal level, there is no age limit for gender-affirming surgeries or other gender-affirming care.
In their analysis, the researchers looked at insurance claims data from health systems, data aggregators and other health care databases across the country.
Data were analyzed from patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria who later received a double mastectomy or “top surgery.”
A previous one research letter published by JAMA suggested that there were only 489 “top surgeries” per year in 2019, well below the estimates in this study.
But it was based on the National Ambulatory Surgery Sample, which covers only 34 states and about 68 percent of the U.S. population.
In a independent study in JAMAIt was suggested that 3,678 children aged 12 to 18 underwent gender-affirming surgery between 2016 and 2020, or around 735 per year.
This includes those who have had top surgery, as well as facial feminization or masculinization surgeries. Genital surgery is not common.
Other analysis A study at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health system found that only 209 minors underwent major surgery between 2013 and 2020. Of those, 10 were between 12 and 13 years old.