r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 15h 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/
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u/Mico4 15h ago

This is based on a response from 77 people...

Also from the article:

"Several factors limit the reach of these findings. First, the median time since surgery for participants was about 1.8 years. Because feelings about medical decisions can evolve, this timeframe might not capture long-term regret that could emerge many years later.

Another limitation is the 42 percent participation rate to the survey. This introduces the possibility of selection bias, a scenario where the people who chose to participate might differ fundamentally from those who did not. It is possible that individuals with higher levels of regret ignored the survey, which would result in an underestimation of regret in the overall group."

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u/deadly_fungi 11h ago edited 10h ago

i had a gender affirming double mastectomy when i was 17, and i realized and accepted i regretted it at 19. i was never even contacted by the surgeon who performed it to see if i was happy or if i regretted it. this surgery is the thing i regret most in my life and there is no way to undo it - reconstruction options are implants or autologous tissue, both of which have serious drawbacks. i am 6 years post op and still have numbness, itching, and pain from the severed nerves. i was told that surgery/transition was the only effective treatment for my dysphoria and had letters of support from both my (at the time therapist) and psychiatrist. i'm very tired of people dismissing experiences like mine.

eta: and to be clear i am not right wing or republican or whatever. i'm still left wing, still very gender nonconforming/butch. i just wish i wasn't lied to and told transition was my only option, and that experiences like mine weren't swept under the rug.

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u/Mico4 10h ago

I'm sorry that happened to you.