Due to the rise in gender related surgeries in America, people are divided on this issue. But research shows this isn’t as bad as it’s cracked up to be.

Many of these gender reassignment surgeries are from transgender citizens who seek change in their appearance due to their dysphoria, a state of unease or generalized dissatisfaction with life, which affects them mentally.

The whole spark in discussion is the lack of acceptance; this targets these surgeries to not be allowed. The feeling of being different, the feeling that ‘okay somethings definitely wrong here’ is what triggers these surgeries. Those feelings are dysphoria.

The lack of education with this topic is another thing. People don’t understand the point of these surgeries. Dr. Loren Schechter, a board- certified surgeon in Chicago, speaks about the lack of education.  Schechter told TIME, “I think education is critical. We need to make people in society aware that this is a community that has needs that need to be serviced.”

Schechter also shows the importance that these surgeries have on their lives and that the medical community is finally waking up.  Schechter said, “In the past, U.S citizens had to go aboard to get this care. The medical community now recognizes the importance of these procedures and the impact they have on people’s lives.”  

Paul R. McHugh, who is a psychiatrist and a former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins University, disagrees. He feels that the focus should not always be upon the body, but the mind as well. McHugh told CNS News, “We psychiatrists thought, we would do better to concentrate on trying to fix their minds and not their genitalia.”

Healing both the mind and spirit may decrease the number of surgeries, but the feeling of inadequacy will always be there. The feeling that I still don’t look like a girl or look  like a boy. Mending the mind, spirit and body, showing that they aren’t outsiders, showing that they aren’t losers will bring peace among the community.

For years many trans adults couldn’t receive the proper treatment because healthcare organizations won’t cover it. Just as recent as 2014, Medicare had removed the ban that prohibited gender related surgeries to be covered by health care.

These surgeries may decrease because of the new technology and science; many of the transgendered children are taking hormone pill that will impede on puberty.