Gender-affirming surgery should wait until 19 say US plastic surgeons, citing UK policy

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By Erin Dean

Surgeons should delay gender-related breast, chest, genital and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has recommended in a position statement.

The guidance said the clinical management of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria or gender incongruence has undergone rapid change, driven by insights from new research and the independent review in the UK into gender identity services in England.