Suicide Rate for Trans Women Denied Implants Alarming

 A new study from the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights (RFSL) concludes that breast implants are literally a life and death matter for transgender women who need the operation to "fit in as women in their everyday life." And the suicide rate among those who don't get them is at least 30 times higher than the average person.

According to Swedish website, The Local, RFSL warns that transgender women who are refused breast implants as a compliment to hormone treatment can suffer from a variety of psychological problems, resulting in an “alarmingly” high suicide rate.

Plastic surgery for transgender patients saves lives, according to RFSL. The study shows that psychological complications for those forced to live with a body that doesn't match their gender identity is high and the suicide rate among patients denied breast implants is 30 to 40 percent, compared with only 1.6 percent for the general population.

RFSL petitioned the National Board of Health and Welfare to draw up national guidelines for physicians and hospitals trans breast implants, after a trans woman was reportedly denied implants by the Södra Älvsborgs hospital in Alingsås in western Sweden. “RFSL demands that care for transgender people be given under the same conditions regardless of where one lives in Sweden,” the group wrote.