More Trans Teens Are Choosing ‘Top Surgery’
nytimes.comMichael, 17, arrived in the sleek white waiting room of his plastic surgeon’s office in Miami for a moment he had long anticipated: removing the bandages to see his newly flat chest.
After years of squeezing into compression undershirts to conceal his breasts, the teenager was overcome with relief that morning last December.
Wearing an unbuttoned shirt, he posed for photos with his mother and the surgeon, Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher, happy to share his bare chest with the doctor’s large following on social media. “It just felt right — like I’d never had breasts in the first place,” Michael said. “It was a ‘Yes, finally’ kind of moment.” Michael is part of a very small but growing group of transgender adolescents who have had top surgery, or breast removal, to better align their bodies with their experience of gender.
Most of these teenagers have also taken testosterone and changed their name, pronouns or clothing style. Few groups of young people have received as much attention.
