Gender Affirmation Surgery Quotes

“I am against the rush to medicalize our children and young people to present as the opposite sex when they are confused or when other conditions such as autism are misattributed as trans.”
― Lisa Shultz, The Trans Train: A Parent's Perspective on Transgender Medicalization and Ideology

“I hope to see those who participate in the gender affirming care model switch to engaging in the examination of deeper issues and the exploration of other treatment options beyond immediate transition when gender confusion presents itself. Young people may need support with counseling to understand and heal from the root cause of their feelings and experiences of dysphoria.”
― Lisa Shultz

“Sometimes I worry (and I know I worry too much, too seriously) that I will have the same self-doubts and uneasiness as a man as I have a woman. I worry that I will fail to find the happiness I think I will. But as I wash myself and prepare for this surgery, when I buy my new shirts and look at my breasts and think they are sexy (!), I know I'll come out of this a better person.”
― Ellis Martin, We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan

“Many families have been emotionally blackmailed and told that they will lose their kids to suicide if they don’t agree to participate in the affirmation model. This threat is an unsubstantiated claim. When parents tap into the experiences of detransitioners, they learn that mental health often crumbles after transition. If it doesn’t work out so well on the other side, then what? It is a no-win situation for parents.”
― Lisa Shultz, The Trans Train: A Parent's Perspective on Transgender Medicalization and Ideology

“There’s no need to rush life-changing, body-altering decisions that are difficult or impossible to reverse.”
― Lisa Shultz, The Trans Train: A Parent's Perspective on Transgender Medicalization and Ideology

“I am not aware of any other mental or medical condition in which a kid or young adult self-diagnoses themselves after social media and internet engagement, undergoes no objective testing, and then receives irreversible medication and surgery upon demand”
― Lisa Shultz, The Trans Train: A Parent's Perspective on Transgender Medicalization and Ideology

“Something is terribly wrong when natural and holistic measures to relieve emotional struggles are left untouched in favor of lifelong, irreversible medical interventions that are experimental, expensive, and come with a host of additional adverse effects.”
― Lisa Shultz, The Trans Train: A Parent's Perspective on Transgender Medicalization and Ideology

“I will ask over and over until I die why doctors, therapists, school educators, and counselors are not looking deeply at the individual in front of them and creating a treatment plan with options that heal trauma, offer tools and adaptive coping strategies to navigate their emotional life, and address underlying mental issues before placing that young person on a rapid medicalization pathway that ignores complex dynamics of their personality and experiences.”
― Lisa Shultz, The Trans Train: A Parent's Perspective on Transgender Medicalization and Ideology

“The word 'affirmation' is literally a 'positive' word, and so our gut instinct is that it must be a good thing. In reality of course an 'affirmation only' approach denies the person any thoughtful enquiry, which could be extremely helpful. After all, the phrase goes, 'a problem shared is a problem solved', and not merely a solution shared...'. The post op regretters were universally of the opinion that if they had been able to access an exploratory space in the first place, then they would not have pursued the irreversible physical steps, which they later came to regret.”
― Dr Az Hakeem