{"id":462576,"date":"2026-02-11T17:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/462576\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T17:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:29:07","slug":"im-crushed-transgender-patients-left-in-limbo-after-umass-memorial-canceled-their-surgeries-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/462576\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m crushed\u2019: Transgender patients left in limbo after UMass Memorial canceled their surgeries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patients are feeling distraught after hearing that a Worcester hospital abruptly canceled all appointments with a highly regarded doctor known for performing gender-affirming surgeries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m crushed. I can\u2019t stop crying,\u201d said one patient, Avery. GBH News agreed to use a pseudonym due to her fear of repercussions for speaking publicly. \u201cThis surgery was life-changing because it finally gives me the body that\u2019s right for me. It has been ripped away with no explanation or follow-up plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avery\u2019s vaginoplasty, or bottom surgery, at UMass Memorial Health was scheduled for next month and booked nearly a year ago. She had spent months preparing and even switched to a more expensive insurance plan that would cover the procedure. After she received a call that the surgery was canceled, she pressed for answers. A hospital staff member told her that all of Dr. Ashley Alford\u2019s appointments had been canceled, without providing any further explanation.<\/p>\n

The abrupt cancellations and lack of clarity have left patients scrambling<\/a>. Some have waited years for the opportunity to undergo bottom surgery and feel comfortable with their bodies. Now, they\u2019re questioning whether Alford\u2019s sudden unavailability means UMass Memorial is shutting down its vaginoplasty program as the Trump administration pressures medical providers to stop engaging in gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n

GBH News spoke with six of Alford\u2019s patients for this story. They all said they\u2019ve received calls over the last two weeks that their upcoming appointments at UMass Memorial were canceled, or they\u2019ve been unable to schedule future visits. The patients said when they asked to reschedule, hospital staff told them that\u2019s not possible right now.<\/p>\n

UMass Memorial declined to provide a reason for the cancellations or say whether Alford\u2019s patients would be referred to another doctor. But in a statement, the health system denied that it\u2019s curtailing gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough appointments may at times need to be canceled or rescheduled due to the availability of a specific provider, nothing has changed in UMass Memorial Health\u2019s commitment to providing comprehensive, evidence-based health care, including gender affirming care, to all members of our community,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

GBH News also contacted Alford. She said she\u2019s unable to comment on this story.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the surgeon that has given me a new lease on life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah Garceau, a patient of Dr. Ashley Alford<\/p>\n

Alford has been the only surgeon in Massachusetts to provide gender-affirming vaginoplasties outside of Boston. When she joined UMass Memorial in 2023, she introduced a modern surgical technique never before used in New England. The process involved utilizing abdominal tissue and robotic technology to create a more realistic and functional vagina than more commonly practiced procedures.<\/p>\n

Several of her patients call her the best vaginoplasty surgeon in New England because of her technique and kind demeanor. They said she made them feel comfortable throughout an intimidating process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt so much of a stronger connection with her than other surgeons I\u2019ve met with,\u201d said Danielle, who\u2019s also using a pseudonym and hoped to undergo the procedure later this year. \u201cThis is a very big, stressful surgery, but she spoke with a confidence, and it felt not arrogant. It felt very reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another patient, Hannah Garceau, already underwent a vaginoplasty but needs a follow-up procedure. Garceau said she was supposed to meet with Alford in late January to discuss the follow-up surgery.<\/p>\n

After the hospital informed her the appointment was canceled, Garceau said she called back asking to reschedule. She recorded the call and shared the recording with GBH. A staffer told Garceau they can\u2019t reschedule right now, and added, \u201cI think there\u2019s been some changes. So I\u2019m not sure exactly what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garceau said she\u2019s now worried she won\u2019t be able to have the follow-up operation with Alford.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the surgeon that has given me a new lease on life,\u201d Garceau said. \u201cYou want to stay with the same captain on the ship, specifically with bottom surgery because it\u2019s such a vulnerable thing that you\u2019re opening up to a surgeon about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"News_Ashley_Alford.jpg\"<\/p>\n

FILE – Dr. Ashley Alford, right, sits with patient Chrissi Bates during a visit in 2024.<\/p>\n

\n Tori Bedford<\/p>\n

GBH News\n <\/p>\n

The sudden cancellations come as the federal government has pushed medical centers nationwide to stop providing gender-affirming care to children and teens, including proposing rules<\/a> that would withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding from health care facilities that provide that care.<\/p>\n

In response, many hospitals and clinics across the country \u2014 including Fenway Health in Boston<\/a> \u2014 stopped providing medical treatments like puberty blockers and hormones to minors.<\/p>\n

Gender-affirming surgeries for teens were rare<\/a> even before the current Trump administration came into office. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recently recommended<\/a> that doctors wait until a patient is 19 years old to perform a surgical procedure.<\/p>\n

At UMass Memorial, Alford didn\u2019t perform bottom surgery on anyone under 18.<\/p>\n

Still, some patients fear UMass Memorial is especially susceptible to federal funding pressures. Last fiscal year, the health system reported a $159.7 million operating loss<\/a>, and it cut multiple programs around Central Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Chrissi Bates, an advocate for transgender healthcare who was Alford\u2019s first patient to undergo the surgery, suspects those factors are the reason behind Alford\u2019s sudden unavailability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all love Dr. Alford. We all doubt that it\u2019s her that wants to leave,\u201d said Bates, who planned on seeing Alford for post-op appointments. \u201cIt\u2019s really disheartening to hear that UMass is just caving to this unjust kind of healthcare agenda that\u2019s being pushed by the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bates and other patients say they\u2019re losing hope that Alford will resume her practice at UMass Memorial, but they want the hospital to at least be more transparent about what\u2019s going on. That way they can know whether they can follow Alford to a new hospital or will have to begin the process of searching for a new surgeon.<\/p>\n

Kara Earp \u2014 whose surgery with Alford was supposed to be in April before it was canceled \u2014 has already scheduled a consultation with a doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. But Earp is worried that Beth Israel and other hospitals could also stop performing bottom surgeries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it is Dr. Alford being pushed out due to concerns from the Trump administration, who\u2019s to say that\u2019s not going to happen in Boston,\u201d said Earp, who moved to Massachusetts from North Carolina a couple years ago to seek gender-affirming care. \u201cI probably won\u2019t actually be happy until I wake up from surgery and it\u2019s all over with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patients are feeling distraught after hearing that a Worcester hospital abruptly canceled all appointments with a highly regarded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-462576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}