breast removal operations, USA News: British taxpayers are footing a £6.5million bill for soaring rates of breast removal operations on the NHS, new data has revealed. In the 2024-25 financial year, 1,115 such procedures were performed, representing a 52 per cent jump from the 734 mastectomies conducted in 2022-23. NHS England estimates each operation costs £5,800, leaving taxpayers with an annual bill of up to £6.5million.
The data, secured through freedom of information requests, expose for the first time the steep upward trajectory of what clinicians term “masculinising chest surgery”. In 2022-23, 734 procedures were carried out, rising to 904 in 2023-24, then 1,115 in 2024-25, with 933 already recorded in the current financial year, according to The Telegraph. An official review of adult gender services found that most patients accessing these clinics were between 18 and 25 years old.
Meanwhile, operations that construct an artificial penis, known as “masculinising genital surgery”, have also seen rises. In 2022-23, 270 operations were carried out; 357 in 2023-24; 241 in 2024-25; and 322 so far in 2025-26. These procedures cost the NHS an average £32,000 per patient. By contrast, feminising genital operations, which involve creating an artificial vagina at roughly £10,000 each, have edged downward: from 420 in 2022-23 to 364 in the current year. No procedures were performed on patients under 18. Across all three categories of gender-reassignment surgery, the NHS is spending an estimated £21million annually.
The demographic profile of those seeking gender-related treatment has shifted dramatically over the past decade and a half. Historically, the majority of referrals to gender identity services came from individuals born male, but that pattern has now reversed, with biological females seeking to transition to male now predominating. Figures from the Gender Identity Development Service for young people, which was shut down in 2024 after the Cass review, show that about 70 per cent of referrals since 2017 involved those born female, with teenage girls making up the majority of this cohort.
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at the charity Sex Matters, commented on the trend, stating that the sharp rise in elective mastectomies among young individuals is a tragedy given cultural and social influences. She noted that detransitioners often grieve later in life over the inability to breastfeed children.
