Rate of transgender surgeries skyrocketed 20% in US

The first ever data on gender reassignment surgeries in the United States shows demand is skyrocketing.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons found a nearly 20 percent increase in vaginoplasties, phalloplasties, top surgery and contouring operations in just the first year of reporting.

In 2016, more than 3,200 surgeries were performed to help transgender patients feel more like themselves.

Surgeons in the field claim that figure is a conservative estimate - and would likely three times higher if all hospitals had a uniform way of documenting such surgeries.

And they believe celebrity transitions have been a driving force in this shift.

‘It’s only in the last couple of years that we’ve seen this dramatic increase in demand for procedures, it’s certainly a subject that’s more talked about,’ Dr Loren Schechter a board-certified plastic surgeon who’s been practicing gender-reassignment surgery for two decades, told Daily Mail Online.

‘It’s really the reason why the society is recognizing and collecting data.

‘This is the first time that the ASPS is formally collecting the numbers and they’re probably a conservative estimate of procedures. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was double or triple.’

Increasingly, insurance companies are offering coverage for surgery for patients with gender dysphoria - a disconnect between how an individual feels and what their anatomic characteristics are.

Gender confirmation procedures can include everything from facial and body contouring to reassignment surgeries.

As Chicago-based Dr Schechter explains, ‘there is no one-size-fits all treatment’.

Gender transitions usually include more than just surgery.

Plastic surgeons often partner with other experts to provide comprehensive care, such as doctors who specialize in hormone therapy or urology and with mental health professionals who help patients through the emotional aspects of their transition.

Male to female genital surgery is called vaginoplasty; female to male genital surgery is called phalloplasty. There are various techniques and ways to perform each procedure.

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