A survey of over 90,000 trans people in 2022 found 94% reported being “very satisfied” with their transition-related medical care — a remarkable result, experts say, given that such a high satisfaction rate is rare for any medical treatment, much less one that has been the subject of so much political division over the years.
Even though the survey respondents were self selected, it’s still a remarkable result. Such a high satisfaction rate is rare for any medical treatment, much less one that has been the subject of so much political division over the years.
Gender affirming care, especially surgical procedures, is still somewhat difficult to obtain for the average trans person.
One possible reason for such a high satisfaction rate is that gender affirming care, especially surgical procedures, is still somewhat difficult to obtain for the average trans person. Insurance company practices and policies about these procedures can be difficult to decipher, there aren’t that many surgeons practicing in this area to begin with, and trans people still need to shell out hundreds of dollars to get therapists and a psychologist to sign off on the procedures.
Additionally, societal transphobia presents its own blockade to transitioning. Trans people are routinely trapped in the closet by the threat of familial or spousal abandonment if they decide to come out and seek transition care.
All of these factors add up to only the most dedicated and committed trans people pursuing transition to begin with. Generally, you don’t pursue a gender transition unless you really mean it and want it.
These points present a problem for drivers of the burgeoning anti-trans grift economy who have dedicated themselves to convincing the public that doctors are giving hormones and surgeries out like candy on every street corner without regulation.
As such, critics were quick to jump at a chance to downplay the results of the survey, with some of the louder voices claiming that we should wholesale discard the data because detransitioners weren’t included in the sample. This is a silly argument for several reasons.
First, the survey administrators were careful about drawing from the most diverse set of trans respondents as possible, going to great lengths to reach respondents who are Black, Indigenous, impoverished, people of color and other marginalized identities within the trans community.
Second, all indications point to the fact that there are only a tiny number of detransitioners to begin with. A similar survey of detransitioners by one of the leading anti-trans researchers was only able to find 100 respondents. Adding another hundred people to this 90,000 person survey wouldn’t move the needle in terms of satisfaction rates.
There are no hard numbers about the potential size of the detransitioner community, though anti-trans activists will have you believe that the number is growing quickly. There are no hard numbers about the potential size of the detransitioner community, though anti-trans activists will have you believe that the number is growing quickly, sometimes citing the number of subscribers on a detransition Subreddit where anyone can sign up. Besides the raw numbers, I don’t see why thousands of happily transitioned trans people should be considered with equal weight with a handful of regretful detransitioners. The regret rates on other forms of medical care are significantly higher than that of transition care. For example, surveys have shown that knee surgeries have a regret rate of up to 33%, yet we don’t see an international campaign to ban knee surgeries in the name of those who regret it. It’s important to always keep in mind that the anti-trans movement is not seeking to right some alleged wrongs of medical practice — it’s about opposition to trans lives altogether. We see this all the time, from British TERFs (trans exclusionary radical feminists) talking about reducing the number of trans people because we’re a “problem for the sane world,” to a Daily Wire contributor standing on stage at CPAC demanding we “eradicate transgenderism.” Everything else — the overt focus on a small handful of detransitioners, to the constant downplay of pro-trans data — is in service to the ultimate goal of ridding society of trans people. This is why a transparent report like the U.S. Trans Survey is so important to have on record. And this is why you shouldn’t let the abundance of poorly sourced anti-trans rhetoric fool you.
Katelyn Burns is a freelance journalist based in New England. 
