Sex-change surgeries carried out across US annually have nearly tripled in recent years, a study suggests. The number of gender-affirming operations nearly tripled from 2016 to 2019 before dropping slightly in 2020, according to research published Wednesday. The increase likely reflects expanded insurance coverage for transgender care after the Obama administration and some states actively discouraged discrimination based on gender identity, lead author Dr Jason Wright of Columbia University said. The dip in 2020 can be attributed to the pandemic. About 48,000 patients underwent such surgeries during the five years studied, with about 13,000 procedures done in 2019, the peak...