WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—A jury on Jan. 30 found a psychologist and surgeon liable for malpractice after they supported and performed breast removal surgery on a 16-year-old girl who at the time identified as transgender.

Fox Varian, now 22 and no longer identifying as transgender, was awarded $2 million in damages, with $1.6 million for past and future pain and suffering, as well as another $400,000 for future medical expenses.

The jury found that in many respects the surgeon and psychologist had skipped important steps when evaluating whether she should go forward with the surgery and had not adequately communicated with each other. These missteps were a “departure from the standard of care,” they decided.

During closing arguments, Varian’s attorney Adam Deutsch had asked the jury for $8 million in damages. To justify that sum, he quoted earlier testimony in which Varian had described her reaction to seeing her post-surgery chest.

“I immediately had a thought that this was wrong, and it couldn’t be true,” Varian said. She also said that the surgery left her with nerve pain, which she described as “searing hot ... ripping sensations” across her chest.

“Shame,“ she said. ”I felt shame. It’s hard to face that you are disfigured for life.”

Varian wept and hugged her mother and attorney following the verdict, which concluded a three-week civil trial in the New York Supreme Court in Westchester County.

“A jury of everyday Americans sent a clear message: Justice will be served for vulnerable individuals who were misled into gender-transition procedures without appropriate safeguards,” said Josh Payne of the firm Campbell Miller Payne, who was not involved in the case but was in court observing the Jan. 30 proceedings.

His firm was founded three years ago to represent plaintiffs in cases similar to Varian’s.

The decision came after the young woman regretted the 2019 surgery and sued psychologist Kenneth Einhorn, surgeon Dr. Simon Chin, and their respective employers.

The six-member jury was not asked whether gender-related surgical procedures are appropriate for minors. The question was whether the therapist and doctor took the appropriate steps before the surgery was performed.

Varian’s attorney argued that the health care professionals did not correctly diagnose and treat her for gender dysphoria, which is distress and anguish caused by a mismatch between one’s physical sex and one’s internal perception of one’s gender.

Chin and Einhorn’s attorneys argued that Varian did not express regret for the surgery until years later, when she filed the suit in 2023. They noted that she told Einhorn, Chin, and her mother that she was “happy” with the results, and continued to live as either male or non-binary for years after the procedure.

Neil Kornfeld, who represented Einhorn, read from an essay Varian wrote 10 months after the surgery to back up their claim.

“It’s such an immense relief to wake up and not feel at odds with my body,” she said at that time.

On the witness stand, Varian said such comments came from “cognitive dissonance” as she tried to put on a brave face about her inner turmoil.

In October 2019, Einhorn wrote a referral letter to Chin supporting Varian’s decision to have the chest surgery; she had first brought up the idea to him in March that same year. Varian’s attorneys said that since the letter contained some omissions and inaccuracies, Chin did not have a clear picture of his patient’s psychological history.

Trial evidence showed that Einhorn did not have the full picture, either.

Before the surgery, Varian had told staff at the Albany Pride Center that she “felt pressure to decide” on a male identity or a female identity “by family, friends, and culture.” She also said she continued to question her gender identity but was afraid she might “lose credibility” if she brought it up with her mother.

Einhorn said he might not have written the letter had he known; Chin also testified that had he known that Varian was unsure of her gender identity, he would not have performed the surgery.

Deutsch said Einhorn should have reached out to Albany Pride Center for records of Varian’s time there; he also said Chin and Einhorn should have communicated with each other, at least once, by phone call.

He began the trial by suggesting that Einhorn “drove the train” and had been “putting ideas in [Varian’s] head” during attempts to change her gender.

But defense attorneys argued that Varian, not Einhorn, had spurred decisions such as using “he/him” pronouns, cutting her hair short, and changing her name from Isabelle to Gabriel, then Rowan, then Fox. They said the decisions to wear a chest binder and then to have her breasts removed were also her ideas.

Deutsch, in his closing statements, said that that was the problem, describing Einhorn’s attitude as “Whatever the kid wants, the kid gets.”

Varian’s mother, Claire Deacon, testified that she was against the surgery but that she consented out of fear that her daughter would commit suicide if she did not get it. Einhorn increased that worry, she told the court. Defense attorneys countered that Varian had made similar threats on multiple occasions, and that ideas of self-harm did not come from her therapist.

Both sides of the case have declined to comment.