I agree with Liberal candidate for Warringah, Katherine Deves. We are sterilising and surgically mutilating children.

I’ve watched countless videos of ‘gender affirmation’ surgeries gone wrong, including victims developing fistulas (the medical term for ‘hole’) between their colon and surgically constructed vagina allowing gas to pass through. I’ve seen a trans man (a female who had undergone phalloplasty surgery) speak about requiring liposuction on their newly minted penis because it had the girth of a coke can. I’ve seen victims of these surgeries speak of kidney infections due to an inability to fully pass urine, stitches ripping open, colostomy bags, catheters, loss of sexual function, regret and remorse.

These are the sort of surgeries the Greens want taxpayers to fund. Will the Greens also have us funding countless corrective surgeries and years of psychotherapy for those that regret the decision? Will these ‘life-saving’ surgeries be available to minors? And what kind of psychological screening will be in place to ensure the patient is making the right decision?

There is also the matter of how we define ‘gender affirmation’ surgery. In America there are now cowboy surgeons offering ‘non-binary’ and ‘gender nullification’ procedures. The former can be performed on males by removing the testicles and inverting the scrotum to create a neovagina whilst leaving the penis intact. Nullification is the removal of everything in order to create a Barbie doll appearance. Where does Adam Bandt draw the line on such bizarre and indulgent body modifications?

We don’t yet have any Australian detransitioners willing to speak publicly about their regret, but they exist. UK woman Keira Bell is the most famous detransitioner, having taken the London youth gender clinic to court over her medical treatment. She was prescribed puberty blockers as a teenager, followed by male testosterone, and underwent a double mastectomy in her early 20s. She then came to terms with the fact she is a lesbian, not a trans man, and has decried the scant level of psychological care provided to her in making those irreversible decisions.

Australian gender clinics follow the same treatment protocol as London. The mantra is ‘gender affirmation’ and sees grown adults with medical degrees automatically agreeing with children and teens that they are in fact born in the wrong body and require medical interventions to change their bodies. Any pushback or exploration of a child’s gender distress is considered ‘gender identity conversion therapy’ akin to the barbaric practices inflicted on gays and lesbians in the past. Victoria has effectively criminalised any treatment other than ‘affirmation’.

Puberty blockers are not without risk. The most debilitating side effect is reduced bone density. A highly publicised case in Sweden saw an 11-year-old girl develop chronic back pain from extended use of puberty blockers which was later diagnosed as osteopenia – the early stage of osteoporosis.

Another known complication for male to female transitioners is that puberty blockers also block the normal pubertal growth of male genitalia. This issue was made famous by TV reality star, Jazz Jennings. After a course of puberty blockers starting at age 11, followed by cross-sex hormones, it came time for Jazz’s ‘gender confirmation’ surgery. The surgeons discovered there was not enough penile tissue to work with due to stunted growth, but they went ahead anyway. After the initial surgery, the stitches split open requiring emergency intervention. Not happy with the external appearance, Jazz underwent a third ‘cosmetic’ surgery and was finally ‘super happy with the results’.

At the age of 18, Jazz revealed never having experienced an orgasm.

So when Katherine Deves tweeted that children are being ‘surgically mutilated and sterilised’, she was right. We are setting these kids up for a lifetime of health complications, sexual dysfunction, and deep regret. It is a medical scandal in the making and time will vindicate Deves.

Stassja Frei is the Founder of the Coalition for Biological Reality.