Feb 3 (Reuters) - The American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued a statement on Tuesday recommending surgeons delay gender-related breast or chest, ‌genital and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years of age, citing a lack of evidence supporting the procedure's benefits.

The ⁠ASPS, which represents more than 11,000 physicians in cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery, said there is currently insufficient ‌evidence showing a favorable risk-benefit ratio for gender-related surgeries in children and adolescents.

According to ASPS, there is low certainty of evidence regarding mental health outcomes, along with emerging concerns about potential long-term harms and the irreversible nature of surgeries in a developmentally vulnerable population.

The association noted this position reflects recent policy shifts in countries such as the ⁠UK, Sweden, and Finland, which have also moved toward more restrictive or research-only ​models for ⁠minors.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. commended ASPS and said the organization was "standing up to the overmedicalization lobby and defending sound science".

The American Medical Association in a statement ‌said evidence on gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors remains ‌insufficient, and agreed with the ​ASPS that such procedures should generally be ‌deferred to adulthood.

In December, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services moved to cut children's access to gender-affirming care when it proposed rules barring hospitals that deliver such care from Medicare and Medicaid programs, and prohibiting Medicaid and ​the Children's Health Insurance Program from paying for it.

Major medical organizations, ​including ⁠the World Health Organization, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association, have formally opposed the rules, stating they interfere with ‍the patient-physician relationship and ignore established clinical evidence.

Many children's hospitals and gender clinics already require patients to be adults before undergoing surgeries, which are considered the final step in gender-affirming ‌care and are rare in those under 18, due to their irreversible ​nature and higher risk of complications.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Vijay Kishore)