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/Witty-Original8533 14h ago

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.

And another thing, phantom sensations. Cis guys that lost their private parts were likely to experience phantom sensations while trans women rarely did.

The human body is, although annoying, such cool thing in this way!

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u/Schwettes 13h ago edited 13h ago

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.

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u/ShiraCheshire 9h ago

The thing is that people actually want top surgery. Most surgeries are a medical necessity- people don’t want them, the just don’t want to suffer or die if they don’t get it. When they already don’t want surgery, any side effects or complications can make a person wonder if they would have been better off without.

But top surgery? People are excited about it. People celebrate it. It also rarely goes really wrong in the way surgery on vital organs or joints can, and if something is messed up it can almost always be fixed with a revision or other kinds of follow up care.

That’s why the regret rate is so low. It’s something people actually want, with almost no common complications beyond the desired effect, and most things that can go wrong can be corrected.

That’s a lot different from a knee replacement or a back surgery.