According to a recent article by John Hopkins researchers published in the JAMA Surgery journal, a overwhelming majority of those who undergo gender-affirming surgery do not regret the treatment afterwards. As reported by U.S. News, less than 1% of people who underwent gender-affirming surgery within the medical literature on post-surgery regret reviewed by the researchers actually regretted receiving treatment. That represents a lower rate of regret than is seen from any kind of surgery among cisgender individuals.
“Policymakers across the US have been using the potential for surgical regret to justify an unprecedented wave of legislation that bans transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youths from accessing gender-affirming care (GAC), a safe and effective form of health care that allows TGD individuals to align their bodies with their own internal sense of self,” the article noted.
“Proponents of these policies often speculate that TGD individuals who undergo gender-affirming surgeries (GAS) would later regret their decision to undergo such procedures. Despite this supposed fear, evidence suggests that less than 1% of TGD individuals who receive GAS report surgical regret.”
The researchers noted that accurately evaluating the post-surgery satisfaction of patients remains a challenge. They suggested patients be asked about their feelings concerning gender-affirming surgeries no sooner than a year after surgery. A patient’s age, race, education and quality of life should also be considered when determining relevant influences on their regrets concerning the surgery.
The study was led by Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health assistant professor Harry Barbee, alongside Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender and Gender Expansive Health postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Bashar Hassan and Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender and Gender Expansive Health director Dr. Fan Liang.
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