Detransitioner wins settlement after suing providers following gender surgery
A woman who had her breasts removed after identifying as "nonbinary" has reached a confidential settlement after suing her mental health providers reportedly for $3.5 million.
Camille Kiefel, 36, filed a malpractice lawsuit against two Oregon therapists whom she alleges inappropriately approved her for the surgery after brief telemedicine sessions, despite her history of mental health diagnoses that included trauma, depression, suicidal ideation and ADHD.
Kiefel underwent a double mastectomy in August 2020, based on two referral letters for surgery from Amy Ruff, a licensed clinical social worker, and Mara Burmeister, a licensed professional counselor. The complaint, filed in 2022, also names their respective employers, Brave Space, and the Quest Center for Integrative Health.
The complaint alleged Kiefel was approved for surgery after two Zoom sessions, each lasting approximately an hour or less. However, she says the surgery did not solve her gender distress and she detransitioned less than two years later. She said the surgery left her with lasting physical health complications and emotional and psychological harms. Her complaint brings claims of professional malpractice, intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud.
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Days before her case was set to go to trial, Kiefel reached a confidential settlement with the defendants, according to reporter Benjamin Ryan, who first covered the case.
Kiefel told Fox News Digital she wanted to hold her health providers accountable to protect other women from going through the same experience.
"I didn't want what happened to me to happen to other vulnerable girls and women," she said. "And I wasn't given true informed consent. And that's something that everyone deserves to have for any medical procedure."
Kiefel explained how she experienced childhood trauma, including her best friend being raped in the fifth grade, that led to her feeling uncomfortable with her gender as a child.
"I started dressing more masculine after that ...I just wanted to protect myself," she said.
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In college, she said she was first introduced in a women's studies class to the idea of being "nonbinary" and believed adopting this identity could explain her gender distress.
After the surgery, Kiefel said she suffered multiple health complications, including bouts of vertigo, tinnitus and Raynaud's syndrome, which causes some parts of the body to feel cold and numb in response to low temperatures. She said she began to see a naturopath and research the gut-brain connection, which deals with how psychological factors can influence the digestive system and vice versa.
Once she started addressing her nutrition, Kiefel says not only did her physical health improve, but her mental health also vastly improved.
"So while I'm addressing all my physical health issues, I start to question whether or not the surgery was helpful for me," she told Fox News Digital. "And then about a year and a half later, I de-transitioned."
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"It's difficult because now I'm the most mentally healthy and most mentally stable I've been in my entire life, but I now no longer have my breasts," she continued. "And it is difficult because there's like little reminders like, I'll be looking in a mirror after taking a shower and those ugly scars are still there. Dresses don't fit me the same way ... I'd like to have kids, but I would never be able to nurse them, and I'll never have that connection with them, and then they won't get the benefits of breast milk. So it's been difficult."
Kiefel is one of at least 30 detransitioners who have sued their healthcare providers over the past four years, according to Ryan.
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In February, a woman who detransitioned, named Fox Varian, won a historic $2 million lawsuit against her providers, after they referred her for a double mastectomy when she was 16 years old.
Kiefel believes litigation may be the most powerful way to impact gender medicine.
"It's incredibly important that these lawsuits are brought forward," she said, explaining how she's reached out to gender organizations to create dialogue around the issue but said her efforts have been unsuccessful.
"So for many, I think for a lot of this is going to be the lawsuits that are actually going to create change," she continued.
Brave Space has since been permanently closed and could not be reached for comment.
Ruff and Quest, the employer of Mara Burmeister, did not return Fox News Digital's requests for comment.