The study, published in JAMA Surgery on Wednesday, surveyed 139 former patients last year about the decision to undergo gender-transition mastectomies at a University of Michigan medical center sometime between Jan. 1, 1990, and Feb. 29, 2020.
In scaled responses to survey questions, the 139 patients reported near-total contentment and “substantially low levels of decisional regret,” the study found.The findings support earlier studies that had shorter follow-up interviews, Drs. Ian T. Nolan, Brielle Weinstein and Loren Schechter said in an invited commentary.
“In gender-affirming surgery, concerns regarding the potential for regret are often used to deny or limit access to medically necessary care,” Drs. Nolan, Weinstein and Schechter wrote. According to CNN, at least 10 blue states and Washington, D.C., had passed laws protecting access to transgender procedures for minors with parental permission. They include California, New Jersey and Colorado.
She noted in an email that participants had the mastectomies at a median age of 27 — with most occurring between ages 23 and 33 — and said whether doctors label them elective or “medically necessary” surgeries makes a difference. While some had started identifying as other genders and receiving testosterone treatments by the time of their mastectomies, others had not.