gender-affirming surgery

noun

gen·​der-af·​firm·​ing surgery ˈjen-dər-ə-ˈfər-miŋ- 

variants or gender affirmation surgery

plural gender-affirming surgeries or gender affirmation surgeries

: any of several surgical procedures that a transgender or nonbinary (see nonbinary sense c) person may choose to undergo in order to obtain physical characteristics that align with their gender identity : gender confirmation surgery

Hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery are crucial parts of transition for many trans adults. Alleviating gender dysphoria and aligning gender expression with identity through these treatments can lower stress, reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and significantly lessen suicidal ideation.

—Orion Rummler

Some people also identify as both nonbinary and trans. They may take hormones or undergo gender-affirming surgery, but this doesn't take away from their nonbinary identity.

—Suzannah Weiss

Many transgender individuals choose to undergo fertility preservation before their gender affirmation surgery if having biological children is part of their long-term goals.

—Romy Smith and Ro Bowman

—abbreviation GAS

Examples of gender-affirming surgery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite these court rulings, access to gender-affirming surgery in prisons is limited, and the number of transgender prisoners in federal prisons who have received it is minuscule — two. —Matthew Crowley, Louis Jacobson, Austin American-Statesman, 21 Nov. 2024

In Missouri, opponents of a ballot measure that would place reproductive health rights in the state constitution have tried misdirection, claiming the measure would promote gender-affirming surgery on children or allow abortions in the ninth month of pregnancy, even though neither is true. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2024

The titular role is a star-making turn for Karla Sofía Gascón, who shares the screen with Zoe Saldaña (as an attorney forced to help Gascón's character into hiding and get gender-affirming surgery to become Emilia Pérez) and Selena Gomez in a role unlike any she's played before. —Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 Nov. 2024

In trans teens ages 15 to 17, the rate of gender-affirming surgery was 2.1 per 100,000, the study found -- a majority of which were chest surgeries. —Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

2011, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

gender-affirming surgery

noun

variants or gender affirmation surgery

plural gender-affirming surgeries or gender affirmation surgeries

: any of several surgical procedures that a transgender or nonbinary person may choose to undergo in order to obtain physical characteristics that align with their gender identity : gender confirmation surgery

In addition to … hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery … aims to surgically align physical characteristics with one's identity. These surgical interventions target sex-specific physical characteristics such as genitals (e.g., vaginoplasty), chest (e.g., mastectomy), face, gonads, voice, and Adam's apple.

—Tim C. van de Grif et al., Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy

Gender affirmation surgeries … include a variety of surgical procedures intended to support transgender individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, which can help align their physical sexual characteristics to their desired gender expression.

—Omar Hassan et al., New Imaging Techniques

• — abbreviation GAS