by Hayley Dixon and Richard White, Telegraph
NHS performed 1,115 of operations in 2024-25, a 52pc rise on two years earlier
The number of women having their breasts removed on the NHS because they identify as trans men is surging, figures show.
The health service performed 1,115 of the operations in 2024-25, a 52 per cent increase on the 734 trans mastectomies carried out in 2022-23.
NHS England estimates each procedure costs £5,800 meaning that taxpayers are footing a bill of up to £6.5m a year.
Gender-critical activists have called for a halt to the operations, saying there is evidence of harm but little proof of benefit and that they will be “looked back on with the same sort of horror as lobotomies”.
An official review of adult gender clinics found that the “majority” of the patients using the services were between 18 and 25, many with autism or mental health problems.
Several people who have “detransitioned” have spoken publicly about their regret at rushing to have irreversible surgery, the resulting pain and in some cases an inability to breastfeed their children.
Data obtained using freedom of information laws show for the first time a steep rise in “masculinising chest surgery” operations: 734 in 2022-23, 904 in 2023-24, 1,115 in 2024-25 and 933 in 2025-26.