A New York State medical malpractice jury awarded $2 million on January 29, 2026 to a person who was 16 years old when she underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2019 (a double mastectomy that she alleged had left her disfigured), against her psychologist and the plastic surgeon who performed the surgery, whom she claimed had failed to obtain adequate consent about the risks before she agreed to proceed with the procedure.
The plaintiff, Fox Varian, who is now 22, was assigned female at birth but as a teenager identified as a man. After deciding to transition and undergoing the surgery when she was only 16, she now identifies as a woman (detransitioning). Limited recent studies found that between 5% and 10% of minors who had undergone medical transitions later detransitioned.
According to reporting, Varian was diagnosed with autism at age 14. At 15, she began questioning her gender, changed her name to Rowan, began binding her breasts, and expressed an interest in transitioning to her psychologist, who had been treating her for more than two years but had no formal training in transgender care.
Her psychologist suggested hormone blockers as a first step, but Varian allegedly insisted on surgery. Nine months after Varian first announced a desire to transition, the psychologist referred her to a plastic surgeon. In his referral letter, the psychologist stated Varian had body dysmorphia (a distressing preoccupation with perceived physical flaws), not gender dysphoria. The psychologist told the jury that he used the term body dysmorphia for insurance billing purposes.
Varian’s lawyer stated after the verdict: “This was never a debate over the legitimacy of gender-affirming care. It was about whether medical professionals met the standards that covered their own profession.”
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a position statement on February 3, 2026, which was approved by the ASPS/PSF Board of Directors on January 23, 2026, entitled “Position Statement on Gender Surgery for Children and Adolescents” in which it stated, in part: “Consistent with ASPS’s August 2024 statement that the overall evidence base for gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions is low certainty, and in light of recent publications reporting very low/low certainty of evidence regarding mental health outcomes, along with emerging concerns about potential long-term harms and the irreversible nature of surgical interventions in a developmentally vulnerable population, ASPS concludes there is insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents. ASPS recommends that surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.”
If you or a loved one underwent gender-affirming surgery that may have been the result of medical malpractice, you should promptly seek the advice of a local medical malpractice lawyer who may investigate your possible medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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