In recent years, activists on the left have claimed that people who believe they are “transgender” should undergo so-called “gender-affirming surgery.” These operations, they claim, would stop someone who is transgender from committing suiciding.
But, do these surgeries actually alleviate underlying mental health issues? Here’s what a new study is showing.
According to a study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, individuals who believe they are “transgender” and undergo so-called “sex reassignment surgery” face "heightened psychological distress," including anxiety disorder, after the operation.
Fox News reported that researchers from the University of Texas launched the study, focusing on 107,583 patients 18 and older with “gender dysphoria," a disorder where a person feels like they were born with the wrong gender.
Some of these patients elected to have sex reassignment surgery. Here’s what the study recorded (via Fox News):
They determined rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and substance-use disorders were "significantly higher" among those who underwent surgery, assessed two years later.
Males with surgery had depression rates of 25% compared to males without surgery (11.5%). Anxiety rates among that group were 12.8% compared to 2.6%.
The same differences were seen among females, as those with surgery had 22.9% depression rates compared to 14.6% in the non-surgical group.
Females who underwent surgery also had anxiety rates of 10.5% compared to 7.1% without surgery.
The Oxford Academic Journal of Sexual Medicine released a new study on the effects of "gender-affirming surgery" on people with gender dysphoria.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 6, 2025
After analyzing over 100,000 patients, they concluded that those who received surgery had an increased risk of mental health issues… pic.twitter.com/38IbXiDBK0
"While these surgeries can be critical in helping individuals align their physical appearance with their gender identity, they are not a cure-all for the mental health challenges many transgender individuals face," Jonathan Alpert, psychotherapist who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
"These findings suggest that surgery alone doesn’t eliminate the complex psychological burdens that stem from societal stigma and personal struggles with identity," he continued. "In fact, taking a scalpel to treat a psychological disorder can sometimes lead to more issues, as the study results are elucidating.”
Neurosurgeon Dr. Brett Osborn, who was not involved in the study, told Fox: “Surgery is no guarantee of happiness.”
Osborn pointed out that surgery doesn’t fix the root of the problem: mental health issues.
"We’re often told that gender-affirming surgery is essential for alleviating gender dysphoria — but what happens when the euphoria fades?" he said. "The key question remains: Is the surgery itself causing distress, or are preexisting mental health issues driving people toward it? Correlation or causation? No one knows."
