A student has initiated legal action against several doctors, accusing them of ‘fast-tracking’ her transition surgery.
Last week, Kaya Clementine Breen lodged a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against a group of California healthcare providers and hospitals. The suit claims medical negligence, asserting that she was incorrectly diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
At 11 years old, she found herself ‘struggling with the thought of developing into a woman’ and believed life might be ‘easier’ if she were a boy.
Kaya discussed her feelings with her school counselor, who reportedly told her ‘that she was transgender and informed her parents of the same.’
She was then taken to a children’s hospital in Los Angeles by her parents and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
According to Mayo Clinic, gender dysphoria is ‘the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics’.
It is believed that Kaya was experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time, as stated in the lawsuit.
By age 12, she started on puberty-suppressing medication, and between the ages of 13 and 19, she took cross-sex hormones.
Additionally, Kaya underwent a double mastectomy at 14, after which her ‘mental health progressively declined’ following these treatments, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit further states: “This case is about a team of purported health care providers who collectively decided that a vulnerable girl struggling with complex mental health struggles and suffering from multiple instances of sexual abuse should be prescribed a series of life-altering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, ultimately, receive a double mastectomy at the age of 14.”
In a conversation with NBC on Thursday (December 12), Kaya expressed regret that therapy was not suggested over gender-focused treatment. Nonetheless, she does not believe the healthcare professionals ‘intentionally acted in poor faith’.
“In retrospect, I wish that somebody had suggested real, genuine therapy first, instead of gender-specific therapy, because really the only therapy that I received until much later was specifically focused on gender dysphoria, and didn’t connect my gender dysphoria to anything else,” she shared with the news outlet.
Kaya began questioning her transition when she started dialectical behavior therapy earlier this year.
“I sort of started questioning my own gender identity and if I was doing this for the right reasons.” she said.
Her lawsuit names several parties, including various doctors and healthcare centers in California.
If you’re affected by these issues and need confidential support, you can reach out to the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, operational Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.