The American Society of Plastic Surgeons shook the transgender care field last week when it issued a nine-page policy statement recommending its members not conduct gender-transition surgeries on patients under age 19. Both the timing of the statement’s release and its contents came as a complete surprise, however, to an ASPS task force that the organization convened in May to examine the very issue of gender surgeries on youth.

According to a two-page open letter that was signed by seven members of this youth gender surgery task force and sent to the ASPS board on Monday, the board cut the task force out of the loop when it came to developing and releasing the new position statement on youth gender surgeries.

The public release of the letter, which sought clarification from the ASPS board regarding its development of the position statement, has led to further friction within the task force. Dr. Steven Montante, a Virginia plastic surgeon, signed the letter thinking it wou…