The debate surrounding pediatric gender-transition procedures continues to generate some of the most emotionally charged stories in modern medicine, and a new public confrontation between a detransitioner and the surgeon who performed her double mastectomy is likely to intensify that discussion even further.
Claire Abernathy, who has become a prominent voice in the detransitioner movement, released an open letter Thursday directed at Dr. Alan Dulin, the Texas plastic surgeon who performed her double mastectomy when she was a teenager. In the letter, Abernathy describes years of regret and ongoing physical complications, accusing Dulin of performing an irreversible procedure without adequately addressing the issues that led her to seek treatment in the first place.
“You took advantage of a little girl’s confusion and a family’s trust to perform an unnecessary, disfiguring surgery on a child who was barely through puberty,” Abernathy wrote. “You committed an act of violence that I have to wear on my skin for the rest of my life.”
Abernathy has previously spoken publicly about her transition and detransition. In a recent Fox News op-ed, she stated that she was prescribed testosterone at age 14 and underwent a double mastectomy just eight months later.
According to an October report from The Texas Insider, the surgery occurred between Abernathy’s eighth- and ninth-grade years after what was described as a brief consultation. Those claims have become a focal point for critics who argue that minors were, in some cases, placed on pathways toward irreversible medical interventions too quickly.
The most striking portions of Abernathy’s letter focus on the aftermath of the surgery itself.
She describes watching tissue from nipple grafts fail following the procedure, recounting what she says was a traumatic recovery experience at an age when most teenagers are still navigating the challenges of adolescence.
“I want you to know the reality of the ‘success’ you had on that operating table,” Abernathy wrote. “I had to watch as the skin of my nipples, which you had sliced off, defatted, and then grafted back onto my skin, turned black and fell off my body.”
Today, she says she continues to live with physical pain, numbness, nerve damage, and visible scarring.
“Now, I live every single day with a numb, hollow chest covered in the disfiguring scars you chose to carve into me,” she wrote. “There is an electrical current that constantly hums and zaps beneath my skin.”
The letter also serves as a warning to medical professionals involved in pediatric gender-transition treatments. Abernathy noted that she has testified before federal agencies and lawmakers, including appearances before the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Senate, where she publicly identified Dulin by name.
“I have spoken your name into the record so that it is preserved in the halls of power as a warning,” she wrote.
Dr. Dulin is listed on the American Institute for Plastic Surgery website as a board-certified plastic surgeon serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The practice states that it emphasizes patient education, transparency, and informed decision-making as part of its approach to cosmetic and reconstructive procedures.
As of the time of reporting, requests for comment sent to Dulin, the American Institute for Plastic Surgery, and the Federal Trade Commission had not received responses.
