Mum who had ‘top surgery’ while identifying as transgender shares pain of being unable to breastfeed

Summarize this content to 50 wordsA woman who removed her breasts when she identified as transgender at the age of 20 has shared her grief over not being able to breastfeed her baby. Elizabeth – not her real name – underwent a chest mastectomy (commonly known as top surgery) after being formally diagnosed with gender dysphoria as a teenager. But four years after undergoing the controversial procedure, Elizabeth decided to end menopause before she became pregnant at age 30.“It was very hard to know that he wanted to breastfeed, and I couldn’t feed him that. And when they put him on my stomach, he crawled up. He was looking for my breasts and he couldn’t find them,” she said.Elizabeth shared her story with researchers at Western Sydney University in Frontiers in Global Women’s Health in what is believed to be the first case study of its kind. Elizabeth regrets not being told about the impact having her breasts removed would have on her relationship with her baby (stock image) Elizabeth was forced to go to a milk bank, which filled her with guiltResearcher Professor Karleen Gribble told Daily Mail Australia that Elizabeth’s story “might be the tip of the iceberg” and should serve as an early warning sign for others.”It is a very serious matter to remove the breasts of young females and the consequences for them can be significant and if they are having babies they will need support to do so,” said Professor Gribble.’There should be more respect for breastfeeding and its significance for women and children.“Once you’ve had a mastectomy, there’s no such thing as a reversal. This is an irreversible operation and should not be taken lightly.’Elizabeth claimed that the surgeon never talked to her about breastfeeding before surgery.“I don’t think I would have been receptive. I would have been offended, and I would have said it caused my gender dysphoria,” she said.Elizabeth attributed her gender dysphoria to developing breasts at age 10, which led to her being sexually harassed by men.She began identifying as a boy and wore a sports bra to flatten her breasts, convinced that her physical discomfort was due to being transgender.Elizabeth began hormone treatment after her diagnosis before undergoing “top surgery.”The doting mother hopes that sharing her experience will inform other young women facing similar issues and the further impact of testosterone treatment on fertility.”I think it’s very sad that there will be so many women, many of whom are children today, who will not be able to have children of their own because they will be sterilized,” she said.“And I’m very frustrated that it’s taboo to talk about that. I speak because I want to spare future mothers and babies what I’ve been through if I can.”Elizabeth said her conflict over whether she would be a “good” mother led her to decide to make it impossible to become one at all — to “take away the choice.”The surgery on Elizabeth was a disaster, leaving her with extensive scarring. Just wearing clothes hurt. Elizabeth’s right nipple graft was chronically leaking fluid, and voids in her scarred left nipple graft caused even bigger problems. Elizabeth was only 20 when she agreed to have a suregon remove her breasts (stock image) YOUNG GIRLS FLOW TO GENDER CLINICS Professor Gribble said the number of young girls presenting to gender clinics has risen dramatically in Australia, but there are no figures on how many have had ‘top surgery’.”We know that the number of children presenting to gender clinics has increased dramatically in other countries, and that increase has led to an increase in breast augmentation surgeries,” she said.“We want to indicate that there are implications on the track. These surgeries are performed on young people who are not yet at a stage of life where they are even considering having children. So it makes it difficult to make decisions.“There will be an increase in new mothers in Australia needing support. Whether they are detransitioned or not, they will need support.” Two years later, she underwent another surgery to reduce the scarring, leaving her with no nipples and still in pain.Her transgender friends disliked her speaking negatively about her experience and refused to support her.Testosterone-induced vaginal atrophy and a rejection by her transgender friends led to a psychological crisis and menopause at age 24.Elizabeth’s desire to have a baby grew and despite taking testosterone, she became pregnant when she was 30.The new mom was desperate to breastfeed her baby, but knew the surgery had made it impossible. Elizabeth discussed with a midwife her desire to receive donor milk, hoping it would ease her guilt and grief over not being able to breastfeed her child.However, the midwife had no experience with women without breasts and was dismissive, telling Elizabeth to “just bottle feed.”Elizabeth was extremely sad and turned to a midwife, but he did not understand that she had switched. The doctor called Elizabeth a man, which confused and frightened her.Elizabeth suspected that the male doctor thought she was a mentally ill trans woman who mistakenly believed she was pregnant.The midwife’s lack of understanding led him to report Elizabeth to child protection agencies, who pursued her after the birth of her baby. Elizabeth hopes that sharing her experience will inform other young women with similar issues about the impact of testosterone treatment on fertilityWhen her son was born by caesarean section, he was placed on her chest.”He tried to suck my chin and spent so much time in his early life looking for my breasts.”Because of gestational diabetes, Elizabeth was able to get milk from a milk bank, which made her feel more guilty.Elizabeth now wants to support other detransitioners going through pregnancy to avoid the problems and pain she suffered. She also hopes to educate women about the complications of breastfeeding after breast mastectomies.Professor Gribble called for caution in operations on minors.”There is no good evidence base for such an operation, especially in children,” she said.Her concerns were supported by the developers of the “Dutch Protocol,” which treats children with gender dysphoria with drugs to stop puberty and then sex hormones. Research submitted to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health last year found that one in four people said they regret the gender reassignment made them infertile. Another 21 percent said they were too young, as pre-teens or teenagers, when they entered the medical transition. But the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) stated on their website that there was ample evidence that most trans people do not regret confirming their gender.Access to medical gender confirmation can be lifesaving and improve quality of life for those who seek it, it said.The Gender Clinic at Victoria’s Royal Children’s Hospital treats children up to their 16th birthday before they are referred to adult services at the Monash Gender Clinic, which does perform top-notch surgery.The Royal Children’s Hospital would not say how many children it treats each year.