Fox Varian was only 16 years old when doctors amputated her healthy breasts. She identified as transgender and suffered from body dysmorphia, anxiety, autism, and an eating disorder, according to her lawyers. But rather than help Varian with her underlying mental health conditions, her doctors pushed her down the path of medical mutilation and left her with “searing” nerve pain.
Last week, a New York jury recognized the harm Varian has suffered and awarded her $2 million. Her former surgeon and psychologist clearly breached the standard of care, ignored warning signs, and committed medical malpractice, according to the verdict.
I am another of many detransitioners seeking justice. In 2023, I filed a lawsuit in North Carolina to hold my former medical providers accountable. Like Varian, I identified as a boy when I was just a teenager. I suffered from anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, anxiety, and depression. And yet my doctors affirmed my confusion and led me down the path of permanent medical mutilation.
While my lawsuit awaits its day in court as it is appealed to the state’s higher courts, Varian’s victory is a hopeful sign for detransitioners across the country.
Any sensible American knows that medical mutilation would not have helped Varian. But her medical providers pushed ahead with the surgery anyway, and without warning her of the risks or telling her about potential alternative treatments, according to her lawyers.
It’s a story that is all too familiar for detransitioners. Few of us are warned about the potential complications from treatments like cross-sex hormones and double masectomies, and many of us were minors when doctors recommended these sex-rejecting procedures.
Because of the procedures my doctors recommended, I now suffer vaginal atrophy and dryness, have a permanently lowered voice, and will never be able to breastfeed my children. My health is forever ruined.
No amount of money can undo the harm I have experienced at the hands of once-trusted medical professionals, but making these professionals and institutions answer for their lies is a key part of obtaining justice—and ensuring no more gender-confused children suffer as I have.
Winning my lawsuit in North Carolina would mean finding peace and healing for the pain I have experienced because of medical fraud and abuse. It would ensure that these doctors think twice before inflicting the same pain on another vulnerable patient.
I hope that Varian’s legal victory is only the first for detransitioners who have suffered at the hands of their medical professionals. For once-trusted medical institutions, the jury’s verdict should be a warning: no one is born in the wrong body, and no one can change their sex.
