Massive Spike In Teens Getting Sex Change Surgeries

Teens between the ages of 12 and 18 increasingly sought breast and chest sex change surgeries from 2016-2019, according to a study published Wednesday by the JAMA Network, a medical journal.

The study, “National Estimates of Gender-Affirming Surgery in the U.S.,” reviewed data from patients between the ages of 12 and 40 years old and found that from 2016 to 2019 sex change surgeries nearly tripled from 4,552 to 13,011, before declining slightly during the pandemic in 2020. By 2019, the number of weighted breast or chest procedures climbed to 1,000, totaling 3,215 patients over the whole four-year research period in the study.

The overall total of transgender surgeries during the four years, including genital restructuring, facial, breast and chest surgeries, was 48,019, with the largest group being between the ages of 19 and 30 years old at 25,099 patients, according to the data. Teens made up 3,678 of the overall patients with 405 patients undergoing genital surgery.

Breast and chest surgeries were the most popular at 56.6%, with genital reconstruction coming in second at 35.1%, according to the data. Breast reconstruction was the most common specific procedures at 44.2%, while hysterectomies were the most common genital reconstructive procedure at 9.3%.

The number of transgender procedures doubled from both 2000 to 2005 and 2006 to 2011, according to the study. Despite the significant uptick, the findings claimed that these procedures for those under 18 were “relatively uncommon,” while noting the “intense debate and … legislative initiatives to limit access to these procedures in adolescents in several states.”

The authors conceded that the study has some limitations due to the gender of the patients being based on self-report and noted that some of the procedures could have been “performed for other underlying indications or diseases.”

The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), a nonprofit that fights against transgender procedures for minors, released an analysis on Aug. 14 criticizing another JAMA Network study that argued there is a zero percent regret rate for those who get sex-change surgeries. SEGM pointed out that the study’s participants were only, on average, three and a half years past their surgery and therefore could not be relied upon to determine “long-term” regret.

Dr. Jason Wright, an oncologist at Columbia University’s Department of ‘Obstetrics and Gynecology and the author of the study, did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.