Surgeon apologizes for his silence as young as 13 undergo gender reassignment surgeries at NYC hospital

A plastic surgeon who trained at NYU Langone Health apologized for remaining silent while witnessing children as young as 13 undergo “irreversible” gender reassignment surgeries.

“As a father to three young children and as a physician who took an oath to do no harm, I failed to speak up, and I just want to thank President Trump for having more clarity on this,” Dr. Ira Savetsky said Thursday on “Fox & Friends.”

His expression of regret comes just days after the Manhattan hospital pulled the plug on its youth transgender treatment program after the Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding over the controversial medical care.

“As a father to three young children and as a physician who took an oath to do no harm, I failed to speak up, and I just want to thank President Trump for having more clarity on this,” Dr. Ira Savetsky said Thursday on “Fox & Friends.” Helayne Seidman

Savetsky said he had concerns but kept them to himself due to the culture inside upper-echelon medical programs like NYU Langone Health, which discouraged dissenting opinions.

“You’re at the number one plastic surgery program, you’re just grateful to be there. There’s no room to speak up. You’re a soldier,” he said.

“You work so hard to get there… you don’t want to make waves.”

Savetsky, who trained at NYU Langone Health, said the culture inside elite medical programs left little room for voicing his concerns. Robert Miller for NY Post

The surgeon also lamented the pressure the medical establishment applies to parents of kids who question their gender — often dangling suicide as a possible outcome if the parents don’t approve transgender treatments.

“You’re at the number one plastic surgery program, you’re just grateful to be there. There’s no room to speak up. You’re a soldier…” Savetsky said. nyulangone.org

“I can only imagine what the parents were going through. I mean, they’re told that their child is going to kill themselves if they don’t have these surgeries,” he said.

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“They’re pressured, and what are you supposed to do? You’ve dropped everything to do the right thing for your child, and I think that, unfortunately, there was a lot of financial motivation with these institutions.”

An NYU Langone spokesperson declined to comment on Savetsky’s comments, reiterating the hospital’s statement about stopping its trans treatments for kids earlier this week.

Trans rights activists rally in Union Square to demand that the US Supreme Court allow transgender people the right to have healthcare on Jan. 10, 2026, in New York City. Katie Godowski/MediaPunch/Shutterstock

“Given the recent departure of our medical director, coupled with the current regulatory environment, we made the difficult decision to discontinue our Transgender Youth Health Program. We are committed to helping patients in our care manage this change. This does not impact our pediatric mental health care programs, which will continue.”