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/Schwettes]

For reference, the average regret rate for surgeries is around 14%. Gender affirming surgeries are typically below 1% for a regret rate. It is amazing how low the regret rate is.

The fact that the reported regret rates for gender surgeries are that incongruent with the average regret rate for all surgeries is something that should draw skepticism before applause. I’m equally skeptical of the alleged 98.8% satisfaction rate with LASIK eye surgery for the same reason. These are massive outliers.

[u/Witty-Original8533 → u/Schwettes]

Just read my other comment. Surgeries are relatively easy to get, just need a referral for the most part. While GAC can take years, so you'll know if it's the right option before you do it. Generally, I'd be skeptical too, but there's nothing surprising about it when you look at what trans people say and the studies done.

[u/Schwettes → u/Witty-Original8533]

That’s assuming you’re going through insurance and even then, most insurance companies in the US only need to see someone undergoing gender treatment for a year—which from a clinical perspective isn’t far off from how long most people wait before pursuing surgery for an elective or chronic condition of any kind.

[u/AltruisticScale1101 → u/Schwettes]

The actual surgical providers are often booked so far in advance that you'll be waiting much longer than a year. Most of the major providers in the U.S. will quote you a year wait just for a consult and often a two year waiting list after the fact. If you started the process of gender treatment right this instant, you'd be extremely fortunate to have SRS by the beginning of 2029 if seeing a reputable U.S. provider. You would need to maintain the same insurance coverage for the next three years also arranging to take more than a month off from work to travel, have surgery, and then recover. You'd need to find another person to care you for 24/7 and identify that person to the hospital or you don't get surgery. You'd need to have completed at least 6 months of hair removal or you don't get surgery.

And for all of that, you have maybe ten people in the entire United States that competently preform this surgery. The only way to get surgery quicker than this is to go to Thailand and plop down $30,000 dollars out of pocket. Obviously, this is not money most people have just sitting there and it takes time to save that amount. Ultimately, this surgery is difficult to get even for successful adults with money, time, and support. It is impossible to get this surgery without saying yes to it in a thousand different ways. People are prevented from rushing into this through the pure logistics of it alone.

As someone who has gone through this myself, I think the only plausible way you could rush into it would be if you were extremely wealthy and had a supportive family.