Informed consent [IC] is a verbal agreement or standardized legalese with medical jargon few understand. Spending little time with the patient to meet numbers and generate profit in fulfilling the basic minimum criteria may result in patients experiencing regret. IC is more about reducing legal liability for the provider and less costly options for the insurance company as opposed to what the patient needs to know about their provider’s training with gender-affirming care and surgery [GACS]. The patient must understand the risks when consenting to GACS that may result in regret months or years later. World Professional Association for Transgender Health [WPATH], standards of care, version 8 [SOC8], recommends GACS providers continue with their training and education but does not conduct medical or surgical oversight. Collaboration and coordinated care among providers and staff are sometimes lacking. Patients reported that their providers abandoned them post surgery.

This author recommends restructuring the informed consent to include the physician/surgeon’s training and the volume of cases treated, including critical providers involved with the patient’s mental and medical care, and disclosing surgical complications and mortality risk. The author will address the need for accreditation.