Detransitioner, Camille Kiefel, who had breasts removed says she is suing doctors who approved surgery

“Sometimes in the shower, I realize they’re gone. I just have these scars.

Camille Kiefel, 32, had her healthy breasts removed in 2020 to align with her nonbinary gender identity. She says her doctors approved the surgery after two Zoom meetings, breezing past a whole host of mental health issues.

Now that Camille is in a better place mentally, she realizes her surgery was a mistake. So, two and a half years later, she’s suing her social worker, therapist, and the gender clinics they work for — Brave Space Oregon and Quest Center for Integrative Health — seeking up to $850,000 in damages.

As a child, Camille never gave her gender identity a thought. But when her best friend was raped by a relative in sixth grade, she said she became acutely aware of her femininity. Around that time her father also imparted well-meaning advice that backfired.

Kiefel’s complaint alleges these defendants gave her “unnecessary, irreversible treatment” without considering her other mental health problems, which she reported include anxiety disorder, social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In addition, she reported post-surgery complications, including troubles with swallowing, a faulty nausea treatment that resulted in scopolamine poisoning due to a patch on the back of her ear, and pupil dilation that lasted for months.

“My dad told me about how men talked about girls, because he wanted to protect me and to get me to dress more conservatively,” Kiefel said in an interview. “But it made my anxiety worse. All that really screwed me up. I remember I was even afraid to be alone.”

Prior to her surgery, Kiefel minored in gender studies at Portland State University, and she eventually identified as nonbinary. She learned about top surgery when she happened upon the website of the Gender Confirmation Center.

Now Kiefel has returned to identifying as a woman as her suit waits in Oregon State Courts to proceed.