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

During the presidential campaign, Trump falsely claimed that children were undergoing gender-affirming surgery during the school day. —Liz Szabo, NBC News, 21 Dec. 2024

Decades before transgender activism was regularly making headlines, Duffy wrote about reuniting at the event with a classmate who, after living as a man until his late 20s, had undergone gender-affirming surgery. —Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 17 Dec. 2024

Emilia Pérez follows the story of the title character (Gascón), a notorious Mexican cartel leader who undergoes gender-affirming surgery to start living life as her most authentic self. —Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 16 Dec. 2024

French musical film Emilia Pérez, which tells the story of a Mexican drug cartel leader who undergoes gender-affirming surgery, landed 10 nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, which were announced on Thursday morning. —Mathew Rodriguez, Them, 12 Dec. 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