Trans youngsters rarely regret starting gender-affirming care, study shows

Transgender youngsters rarely regret starting gender-affirming care, a new study has shown.

Researchers found that only four per cent of more than 200 people aged 12 and older noted some form of regret in starting healthcare. Gender-affirming care for youngsters typically refers to medication such as physically reversible puberty blockers or hormones.

The study, published in Jama Pediatrics on Monday (21 October), revealed 97 per cent of US and Canadian patients accessing medical care were “highly satisfied”, while just nine youngsters regretting receiving puberty blockers and/or hormones.

The figures fly in the face of claims by anti-trans and right-wing pundits that gender-affirming healthcare should be restricted because of potential regret rates. In addition, many major medical organisations in the US agree that gender-affirming care accessibility is vital for young transgender people.

The Supreme Court is set to hear US v Skrmetti, a landmark case, petitioned after Tennessee banned healthcare for transgender youngsters.

Chris Barcelos, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, told The Washington Post: “I wish we didn’t need research like this, but we do. It’s important that there is more data to support a thing that trans people… know, which is that there’s a really low rate of regret and really high rates of satisfaction with gender-affirming care for young people.”

The study’s lead author, Kristina Olson, noted that “regret” can include “a wide range of things”, adding: “It could have been to anything,” including being placed on puberty blockers rather than hormones, while others worried about potential side effects.

A four per cent regret rate is exceptionally low for healthcare, compared with operations such as knee surgery, which comes in at 20 per cent, according to Barcelos.

Having children also has a higher regret rate, at about seven per cent, according to a collation of studies published in May, while 47 per cent of people regret having breast augmentation.

“The thing that people misunderstand about gender-affirming care is that it’s not easy to get… even if you live in a state where there is no legislative or policy barriers,” Barcelos added. “Research has [shown] that many more trans people – youth and adults – desire gender-affirming care than are able to access it.”

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