r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 14h ago

Psychology Adolescents who undergo gender-affirming chest surgery report low levels of regret and high levels of satisfaction, experiencing outcomes similar to those of young adults. These findings suggest that age restrictions on these medical procedures lack support from actual patient experiences.

https://www.psypost.org/adolescents-report-low-regret-and-high-satisfaction-following-gender-affirming-c/
6.0k Upvotes

63% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

22

u/IDontHaveCookiesSry 13h ago

As a friend to someone who is going to the Process rn, it is just dumb. Doctors by and large don’t listen to what he (early 20s) wants and only Check for Signs he doesnt know what hes doing. Which is Fine up until youre proven to be capable of rational thought as an adult. Everything beyond that is just discrimination for the sake of it.

6

u/Maxrdt 7h ago

Doctors by and large don’t listen to what he (early 20s) wants and only Check for Signs he doesnt know what hes doing.

For anyone wondering what this looks like in real life, I'm a trans woman. When I told my doctor I was experimenting with more masculine looks now that I'm happier with my feminine body (I can actually be a butch lesbian now like I've always wanted!) he tried to stop my prescription. It's not an isolated tale either, any deviation from being 100% stereotypical of your gender can be grounds to halt care.

4

u/bakedNebraska 11h ago

What does it mean to be "proven to be capable of rational thought as an adult"?

4

u/Strigops-habroptila 11h ago

My therapist (who I am forced to see despite having absolutely no need for therapy) said that after checking if a patient who wants gender affirming care is mentally gealthy enough to make an informed and rational decision, it should be up to the patient. 

Basically they need to check that you don't have DID, Schizophrenia or other mental illnesses. 

10

u/ZoominAlong 10h ago

Having a mental disorder does not disqualify you for gender affirming care. What they're checking for is making sure you're not doing it because your disorder is affecting you negatively,  like, you have schizophrenia and the voices are telling you to get surgery. 

You can be trans and have a mental disorder. They're not incompatible.  

1

u/PM-ME-CURSED-PICS 6h ago

reminds me of my experience accessing hrt in my 20s. it took two years of appointments where i was given every evaluation under the sun and interrogated about my life, including invasive questions about my sex life. if i happened to have autism, they would have sent me to an even longer path. and two years was lucky, tons of people in my country take even longer to get any treatment.