NHS MASTECTOMY OPERATIONS FOR TRANSGENDER MEN COST £6.5M IN A YEAR

NHS England figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show mastectomy operations carried out on transgender men rose from 734 in 2022-23 to 1,115 in 2024-25. NHS England estimates each operation costs £5,800, putting the total cost for 2024-25 at around £6.5 million. The operations remove breast tissue as part of NHS care for people with gender dysphoria. The same figures cover other forms of gender-related surgery provided by the health service.

Phalloplasty procedures, to construct a penis, rose from 270 in 2022-23 to 322 in the latest year, at an average cost of £32,000 each. Vaginoplasty procedures, to construct a vagina, fell from 420 to 364 over the same period. An NHS spokesperson said overall gender-related surgeries fell by 16% last year, but said the broader rise in recent years reflects a global trend of more people coming forward for care relating to gender dysphoria. The spokesperson did not provide a breakdown of patients' ages alongside the figures.

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at the campaign group Sex Matters, called the rise in mastectomy operations "a tragedy," saying most such operations are carried out on girls who have not yet reached what she described as the age of brain maturity, 25. She said: "These girls are at the peak age of being influenced by cultural and social activism and often cannot grasp the regret that they may later feel." Joyce said Sex Matters knows of "detransitioners" who have become mothers and grieve that they cannot breastfeed their babies. Her comments contrast with the NHS's explanation that the increase reflects more people worldwide seeking care for gender dysphoria.