A $2 Million Verdict for Victim of “Gender Affirming Care”

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When she was only 16 years old, a surgeon removed the healthy breast of Fox Varian with the support and recommendation of a psychologist. On Friday, a jury found these medical professionals guilty of malpractice and awarded Varian a settlement of $2 million ($1.6 million for past and future suffering and an additional $400k for future medical expenses). Like the majority of young people who are confused in their bodies during adolescence, Varian has embraced her female body and identity as she has matured. At age 22, she is one of a growing number of “detransitioners,” a group of people who we were assured of just a few years ago did not exist.

To be clear, the jury did not rule against the therapies, medications, and surgeries that are used in transgender “medicine.” Rather, they ruled that the doctors failed Varian in this particular case. Even so, this verdict will encourage and enable other cases like it to proceed. According to the New York Post, 28 “detransitioner lawsuits” are already in process across the United States. Also, the size of the financial penalty in Varian’s case should push even more medical professionals and institutions away from experimenting on the bodies of children.

In fact, three features of Varian’s case make it typical of so many others. First, she had serious and obvious mental health comorbidities as a teenager that were ignored and left untreated. As Benjamin Ryan described in The Free Press:

Fox Varian had a turbulent childhood. Her parents split when she was 7, triggering a three-year custody battle that ultimately saw her estranged from her father. She suffered from a constellation of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and social phobia. She was diagnosed with autism and bounced around various schools. Her first period sent her into a meltdown, and she battled disordered eating and body-image issues. By mid-adolescence, she was completely lost.

And yet, her doctors allowed Varian to self-diagnose, encouraged her to question her “gender,” and to change her name and appearance.

The second aspect of Varian’s situation that is common to so many other stories, such as that of Chloe Cole, is how quickly she was “fast-tracked” into therapies and surgery that left her with permanent physical harm. According to Varian’s lawyers, it was Kenneth Einhorn, the psychologist, who “drove the train” and “put the idea in Fox’s head” that she needed to change her gender with surgery. What has become clear in the last several years, especially from leaked emails from WPATH doctors, the self-appointed “experts” in what was wrongly called “gender affirming care,” is how unproven these “treatments” were known to be. Essentially, doctors and medical personnel who wanted to experiment on children convinced many others that the science behind the innovative treatments was “settled.”

Even worse is that they convinced parents. More accurately, and this is the third aspect of this trial that seems to be quite common to almost every other case involving a minor, is that parents were emotionally blackmailed and frightened into giving consent. During the trial, as the New York Post reported, “Varian’s mother, Claire Deacon, testified that she was against the surgery, but consented to it out of fear her daughter would commit suicide . . .” Horrifically, thousands of parents have been asked manipulatively, “Would you rather have a living son or a dead daughter,” either implying or outright stating that parents who did not affirm their child’s new identity would be responsible for their suicide.

It would be premature to think that the days of being force-fed gender ideology from every area of culture are over. After all, 19 states and the District of Columbia have sued the Department of Health and Human Services over its policies to restrict harmful and experimental gender “treatments” on minors. However, verdicts like this one, in New York of all places, should embolden healthcare professionals and parents alike to reject gender ideology, especially when it comes to children.

Every single doctor, hospital, psychologist, and therapist who rushed a child to permanent damage, ignored obvious and important comorbidities, and threatened parents with the “suicide myth” should be found, charged, fined, and jailed. Teachers, administrators, school boards, and school counselors must also be scrutinized and exposed for leading children down this destructive and harmful path.

Thankfully, there is a law firm committed to taking on such cases. If you are someone who has detransitioned, or if your child was manipulated and harmed in the name of “gender affirming care,” contact Campbell, Miller, Payne to learn about your legal options. The rest of us, especially pastors and ministry leaders, should provide as much support, love, and encouragement as we possibly can to these children and their families.

Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Gorodenkoff

John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.