People who underwent gender-affirming chest reconstruction surgeries as adults have virtually no regrets years later and overwhelmingly high levels of satisfaction with their decision to have the procedure, according to a study published Wednesday in JAMA Surgery. The results were so clear, in fact, that the study authors were unable to perform the complex statistical analyses they had planned due to the striking uniformity in the survey responses.

Overall, this study on adults adds to a limited, but growing body of data suggesting that gender-affirming care is “essential” and potentially life-saving care that comes with significant benefits for people who are transgender and gender diverse. Collectively, this is why major medical organizations—including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the Endocrine Society—advocate for protecting access to evidence-based gender-affirming care, which is a broad, sometimes misconstrued, term.

  • It’s great to have additional studies confirming this! But this is also what the trans community has been saying for years. Please just listen to us when it comes to our own bodies 🥲

    • But isn’t this study exactly about asking trans folks how they feel about their top surgery? Not doing a study however would be ignoring the ones who didn’t feel satisfied with their surgery, and now those voices are included as well. They’re in the minority as expected, but at least now we have some sort of statistical validation for it as well

        • Yeah, there’s been a number on both surgery and HRT, as well as plenty of studies on the effects of supporting trans people - especially trans kids.

          I even remember a series of studies that found that HRT had a 90% success rate among patients. 90% of people in the study said that there had been either an improvement or at least no change in the quality of their life after they started compared to before, and of the 10% who didn’t, many of them cited outside factors as being the cause of their issues. Stuff like unsupportive family and harassment/hate crimes were some of the most common factors, and post HRT regret being the least common factor. The majority of that 10% said they would be starting HRT again as soon as they were in a position where they safely could.

      • I was more referring to the common knowledge among the trans community that already knew this information prior to any studies. If you’re trans and in the community this is a “well no shit” kind of study. We’ve been telling it to cis people for years but the refusal to listen to that was palpable. That’s why I said it’s great to have additional studies to point to if they don’t want to listen to the trans community themselves, they can maybe listen to this study.

        • Even if it seems to be common sense to those inside the community, there is something to be said about getting actual data on the subject so that those outside the community at least have a touchstone for the reality those on the inside experience, because propagandists are working very hard to muddy the waters on this point and points like this one in particular. It might be a “no shit Sherlock” moment to you, but to people like my Fox News watching extended family, this study is something that contradicts their current mental model of the situation, and something that I am glad I have in my quiver when they start talking about the subject to me.

        • We’ve been telling it to cis people for years but the refusal to listen to that was palpable.

          Here’s a Sartre quote about bigotry/fascists that you may find useful:

          “Never believe that [they] are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. [They] have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”

          • I’m aware, I’m not talking about those extremists however. I’m talking about the people who are unsure and potential allies. Yes, they still exist in 2023. I convinced one in my family just this past month after being patient and explaining concepts and terms. That’s the scenario these studies can be very helpful.