Jazz Jennings this week completed her third gender confirmation surgery, telling her fans she is ‘super happy’ with the results.
The 19-year-old trans activist and star of TLC’s I Am Jazz has been in the spotlight since the age of six, when she opened up about being transgender on the news programme 20/20.
Since then, Jazz has continued to be an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, sharing her journey for the world to see and using her platform to help educate and raise awareness.
Last year, the reality TV star announced she was taking a year off from school and deferring her Harvard admission to focus on her mental well-being – something she told The New York Times she was ‘very glad’ she did.
And now it seems this gap year has given Jazz the time she needed to undergo her third surgery, with the teenager taking to social media on Wednesday, February 5, to update her fans.
Alongside a picture of her in a hospital bed posted to Instagram, Jazz thanked everyone who has followed her journey and supported her over the years.
She wrote:
I’m feeling so great after completing my third surgery! This third procedure was for cosmetics, and I’m super happy with the results. Thank you to everyone who has followed my journey and supported me along the way.
Upon posting the picture, Jazz was inundated with supportive messages, including one from her brother Sander Jennings, who wrote: ‘Although this surgery was one of the scariest moments of my life, I am so glad I was there to stick by your side the entire way.’
The news comes more than one year after she underwent her first gender confirmation surgery in 2018, which didn’t go to plan. During the procedure, Jazz experienced a ‘major’ complication and had to undergo a second procedure to fix it.
Although she described it as a challenge, Jazz later addressed the complications on I Am Jazz, saying it was worth it because the surgery ‘was something [she] had dreamed of [her] entire life’.
She also told ABC’s Nightline things weren’t ‘too dramatic’ because ‘it was only cosmetic and external’. She added: ‘it was just all part of the journey.’
Thankfully, there were no complications during Jazz’s most recent surgery, and she appears to be recovering well.
We wish her a speedy recovery.
The new series of I Am Jazz airs Wednesdays on TLC.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).