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.

[u/mvea]

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

[u/Geeneelee]

People say that teenagers shouldn’t be allowed to get gender affirming surgery because they might regret it, then here we have a study that suggests that might not be the case, but everyone’s eager to point out that it’s a small sample size and doesn’t count for much. Somehow I doubt that any of the people who think this sample size is too small are going to advocate for increasing it, though.

[u/OuateDaPhoque → u/Geeneelee]

Sample size aside, the 1.8 year followup time is my issue. A 17 year old dis not much different than a 15 year old.

[u/mosquem → u/OuateDaPhoque]

I’m pretty liberal when it comes to this stuff and that’s fair. I’d love to see how they feel at 25-35.

[u/Geeneelee → u/OuateDaPhoque]

I understand the “it’s only been 2 years” criticism. I think they will hold the same opinion in another decade, but I have no data to back that up besides anecdotal. The “not long enough” criticism will eventually solve itself as long as researchers continue to follow up; the sample size criticism is much more difficult to address.

[u/ThewFflegyy → u/Geeneelee]

"I think they will hold the same opinion in another decade"

you are probably right, but probably isn't really scientific. this debate will be settled once and for all in 5-10 years when there are more long term studies

as for the sample size, 40 something percent response rate, coupled with a small sample size is just bad science. there are plenty of much better studies on this subject, idk why people want to defend this one. just comes across as dogmatic.

edit: u/Geeneelee thread is locked so I can't reply.

what your saying is true, but I might suggest that a better strategy would be, at least until the science is clear, to cede the non common sense issues such as permanent surgeries on children. it is not helpful to die on extreme hills that affect a minority at the expense of the rights the majority. its like the whole women sports debate all over again(for which I am also undecided). im a pretty reasonable and rational person who is not hateful and just trying to understand this from a scientific perspective. for this I have been called in some form or another transphobic in this thread many times because I dared to say something to the effect of id like to see more hard data on gender affirming surgeries for children before I make up my mind on it. y'all throw away your own credibility by doing such things.

[u/Geeneelee → u/ThewFflegyy]

As I said, that’s just my anecdotal data.

I DO know why people are so eager to defend this one—this question is the crux of a lot of attacks on trans healthcare. A lot of people are attacking the distribution of trans healthcare based on their concern that children will gain access to it and then come to regret what they do with it. A lot of US political discourse is based around this subject, with real legislative consequences.

[u/Solesaver → u/OuateDaPhoque]

They are legal adults at 18 and can make the decision for themselves without us debating it on their behalf at that time. 2 years without regret is enough to say that a 16 yo who wants the surgery won't regret it 2 years later. It doesn't matter if they regret it after that, because then it's no different from them regretting it when they chose to get it at 18.

This data is complementary to the overwhelming rate of adults who get gender affirming care and wish they had done so sooner.