It's actually not controversial at all among the people actually impacted by it. It's only "controversial" in that a lot of people are transphobic and are offended that trans people are allowed access to gender-affirming medical care.
Besides, nobody's asking for statistics on how many people are satisfied with surgery to remove cancer, or other "obviously" good surgeries. Why are we expected to justify the existence of gender-affirming surgeries?
> It's actually not controversial at all among the people actually impacted by it.
Confirmation bias much?
> a lot of people are transphobic and are offended that trans people are allowed access to gender-affirming medical care.
Again, stats please, ideally by country so we might have a proper discussion.
> Besides, nobody's asking for statistics on how many people are satisfied with surgery to remove cancer, or other "obviously" good surgeries.
Sorry, but that does actually happen, they're called survival statistic, most, if not all health care systems record them. People who survive cancer are generally happy they're alive.
> gender-affirming surgeries
There's no such thing as "gender-affirming surgeries", they're called sex changes. Gender is a role unlike biological sex.
I also find it incredibly disingenuous that everyone asking for The Statistics are asking after a very awfully specific surgery and don't seem to care whatsoever about mutilation performed on intersex people, or of metoidioplasty, or reconstructive surgery, or many other procedures in the area that are performed for all kinds of reasons.
Geesh, I'm actually kind of mad about it... as someone that has given birth to a child and about due with another one, I would love for HN commenters to talk about pelvic pain, vulvodynia, 4th degree tears, incontinence, prolapse, and other incredibly common postpartum issues that might require surgical intervention to the same degree that gender affirming surgeries are being questioned.
Besides, nobody's asking for statistics on how many people are satisfied with surgery to remove cancer, or other "obviously" good surgeries. Why are we expected to justify the existence of gender-affirming surgeries?