Is There an Increasing Interest in Facial Feminization Surgery? A Search Trends Analysis

Facial feminization surgery (FFS) has increased in prevalence and recent studies show that transgender women are just as likely to want facial feminization surgery compared to genital affirmation surgery. While previous research has demonstrated an increase in individuals seeking gender affirmation surgery, little is known on the prevalence of facial feminization surgery. Categorizing the number of facial feminization surgeries performed is difficult given lack of reimbursement rates and paucity of centers of excellence which publish data on their case numbers. Research has also shown a general increase in the information that patients seek on the internet with respect to gender affirmation surgery as procedures have become more prevalent. However, to date, there have been no studies looking at the overall interest in individuals seeking information on facial feminization surgery on the internet. Therefore, this study looks for the first time at an analysis of Google Trends data with respect to global interest in facial feminization surgery.