'An abhorrent misdiagnosis': Detransitioner sues therapists who referred her for 'gender neutral' mastectomy

A detransitioned woman is suing her former therapist and social worker for ignoring her serious mental health problems and instead providing her with a referral for a "gender neutral" bilateral mastectomy when she identified as non-binary, a procedure that she now considers to be "an abhorrent misdiagnosis."

Camille Kiefel of Oregon announced the legal action last month and is being represented by Jackson Bone LLP. Kiefel says her mental health team approved her for a "gender-neutral top surgery" when she was in a state of extreme mental distress. 

According to The Daily Wire, Kiefel was approved for the invasive procedure, which in her words "has no biological blueprint in nature" after just two short Zoom meetings. 

"I was struggling with severe mental illness: CPTSD, major depressive disorder, ADHD, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation. Knowing this, my doctors approved and performed a gender neutral top surgery on me, one between feminine and masculine that has no biological blueprint in nature," Kiefel testified before the Florida Board of Medicine last month. "I didn’t even know what to ask for. All I knew is that the discomfort with my breasts had been unbearable. I wanted them gone. Medicaid paid for it."

Kiefel is suing four defendants: a licensed clinical social worker and a licensed professional counselor, each of whom claimed to "evaluate" her and recommended her for double mastectomy surgery to "affirm" her "non-binary identity," and the two health care clinics that employ these mental health professionals; both of which claim to specialize in helping the "LGBTQ" community.

"I was 30 and at the end of my rope when I transitioned," said Kiefel in her Florida testimony. "At the time I believed I was non-binary. I struggled with severe mental illness and suicidal ideation. I had a trauma history: when I was in 6th grade, my best friend had been raped by her brother. Being a girl meant I was vulnerable. I started to present more masculine."

She went on to say that this should have been a red flag, but instead, the so-called experts in charge of her care approved her for a medically unnecessary major surgery. 

Not only did the amputation of her healthy breasts not help her severe mental distress, but she now has to deal with serious complications following the surgery. 

"Presenting and taking on another gender was a way for me to escape womanhood," Kiefel explained. "Escape is not a valid way of dealing with trauma; You will have to deal with it eventually."

Kiefel’s legal claims include professional malpractice – breach of the duty of care that mental health professionals owe to an individual client; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and fraud. According to a statement issued by WoLF, Kiefel alleges that the mental health professionals who claimed to evaluate and diagnose her ignored her history of trauma and her extensive medical and mental health issues, instead "affirming" her belief in having a "non-binary identity" and urging her to pursue "chest reconstruction" surgery as the path to self-actualization.

"Today I am more grounded than I have been my entire life, but I am mutilated. Between my carved-up body and the physical complications, I often question if there’s anything on the other side. Where my breasts were are hollow. I can never get them back. I can never fit a dress the same way again. I can never breastfeed," was the heartbreaking conclusion to her testimony in Florida. "You know what keeps me going? Stopping this from happening to someone else."

Kiefel is not the first detransitioner to bring legal action against gender-affirming healthcare providers. Last month, Chloe Cole announced legal action against the California doctors who allowed her to transition when she was a mentally unwell child, and in England, Ritchie Herron is suing the NHS clinic that ignored numerous red flags and fast-tracked him to having vaginoplasty despite his serious mental health issues. Also in Australia, Jay Langadinos is suing the psychiatrist who allowed her to medically transition when she was just 19 years old.