Neuquén court finds sixteen-year-old can consent to chest surgery without judicial permission
A Neuquén appellate court reversed a decision refusing permission for a transgender adolescent to undergo chest masculinization surgery, the provincial judiciary reported on October 5. The young person turned sixteen while the appeal was pending. The court concluded that personal informed consent was sufficient and the request for judicial authorization had become moot.
The judicial report describes disagreement over Argentina’s gender-identity law, the restrictive 2025 decree and the Civil and Commercial Code’s rules on progressive capacity. The deciding reasoning relied on the sixteen-year-old’s capacity to make decisions about their own body.
This is a case-specific provincial decision. It does not establish a nationwide repeal of the decree, a final national constitutional judgment or practical availability of surgery. It recognizes the adolescent’s agency while broader legal and care-access uncertainty remains.
Read the Neuquén judiciary’s case report.