Medical Necessity of Facial Gender Affirming Surgery for Transgender Women

Peer reviewed articles really help convince the medical community and insurance companies that facial feminization surgery (FFS) isn’t cosmetic. That said, what follows here is the excerpted conclusion of a “literature review” — courtesy of Transgender Legal Defense Fund (TLDEF)’s Trans Health Project — a compilation of medical literature on facial gender reassignment surgery for transgender women to demonstrate its medical necessity. TLDEF is a vital nonprofit whose mission is to end discrimination and achieve equality for transgender people, particularly those in our most vulnerable communities. Relevant links can be found below and we strongly encourage you to, not only access their resources as needed, but to also lend your financial support, if you are able to.

Facial gender reassignment surgery goes far beyond any incidental improvement in appearance and affects something far more fundamental: how the world sees a person’s sex. Peer-reviewed medical literature, medical opinions of professional societies, evidence-based professional standards of care, and the opinions of health care professionals involved in the specialty of transgender medicine all concur that facial reassignment surgery is safe, effective, and medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria.