A gender clinic in Texas has come under scrutiny for performing hundreds of unconventional and experimental genital surgeries.
According to the Daily Mail, the Crane Center for Transgender Surgery, located in Austin, offers a range of surgeries catering to individuals who identify as transgender or non-binary. The clinic, nicknamed “Frankenstein’s Lab,” offers procedures that include the creation of both a penis and vagina in patients as well as the complete removal of sex organs, something critics are referring to as “barbie-dolling.”
Dr. Curtis Crane, who heads the clinic, touts himself as one of the few practitioners skilled in both plastic surgery and urology, specializing in transgender surgery and reconstructive urology.
“I can’t think of a time that a patient has come up with a surgical request that I haven’t been able to fulfill,” Crane said in a Facebook Live video in 2020.
However, Crane and his clinic have faced at least eight lawsuits from former patients, who allege incorrect and unnecessary surgeries, negligence in addressing infections and complications, and misleading claims about success rates.
The Crane Center reportedly performs over 200 top surgeries and 150 vaginoplasties annually, along with various other procedures involving the removal of healthy sex organs for transgender individuals. These practices have raised concerns among medical experts, as the long-term effects and complications of such surgeries remain inadequately researched.
Nearly all procedures carried out by the Crane Center are covered by insurance, per the Daily Mail. However, Crane complained that this includes a mandatory mental health referral and specific diagnoses that may not align with what the patient is experiencing.