Regret after Gender-Affirming Surgery: A Multidisciplinary Approach to a Multifaceted Patient Experience

Background: Lasting regret after gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a difficult multifaceted clinical scenario with profound effects on individual well-being as well as being a politically charged topic. Currently, there are no professional guidelines or standards of care to help providers and patients navigate this entity. This article summarizes the authors’ Transgender Health Program’s cohesive multidisciplinary lifespan approach to mitigate, evaluate, and treat any form of temporary or permanent regret after GAS. Methods: A multidisciplinary (primary care, pediatric endocrinology, psychology, social work, plastic surgery, urology, gynecology, and bioethics) workgroup including cisgender, transgender, and gender-diverse professionals met for a duration of 14 months. The incidence of individuals who underwent GAS at the authors’ program between 2016 and 2021 and subsequently expressed desire to reverse their gender transition was reported. Results: Among 1989 individuals who underwent GAS, six (0.3%) either requested reversal surgery or transitioned back to their sex assigned at birth. A multidisciplinary assessment and care pathway for patients who request reversal surgery is presented in the article. Conclusions: A care environment that welcomes and normalizes authentic expression of gender identity, affirms surgical goals without judgment, and destigmatizes the role of mental health in the surgical process are foundational to mitigating the occurrence of any form of regret. The authors hope this can provide a framework to distinguish normal postoperative distress from temporary forms of grief and regret and regret attributable to societal repercussions, surgical outcomes, or gender identity.