• Jazz Jennings posted a photo of herself in a swimsuit to Instagram for the #decadechallenge.
• Her gender confirmation surgery scars on her legs are clearly visible and she says they signify “strength and perseverance.”
• Jazz chronicled her transition in the TLC show I Am Jazz.

Jazz Jennings isn’t hiding. The reality star and LGBTQ+ activist showed off her scars in new swimsuit photos on Instagram. Jazz shared the big reveal for the #decadechallenge on New Year’s Day.

In the photos, she’s wearing a maroon one-piece swimsuit and her scars on her upper thighs are clearly visible. She wrote in the caption: “These are my scars on full display in #2019. I’m proud of my scars and love my body just the way it is. I call them my battle wounds because they signify the strength and perseverance it took to finally complete my transition❤️#decadechallenge.”

Jazz received tons of love from friends, family, and followers in the comments. Her mom Jeanette wrote: “My sweet girl, you are the strongest and bravest of all the souls I’ve even known and I’m blessed to be your mom. Your scars are just as beautiful as you the rest of you. I love you with all that I am. You make me proud everyday. 💜💖💜”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6wRQdCn7RT/

Jazz went through her initial gender confirmation surgery in June 2018. Doctors had to use a new technique because she started using hormones at such a young age. Since she hadn’t developed enough tissue to construct a vagina, Jazz’s doctors used tissue from her stomach lining.

“They’re using the tissue I have, the peritoneum, and also, they may take a skin graft as well. I say it’s going to be like a patchwork vagina, Franken-vagina,” she told Nightline. “So yeah, as long as it’s functional, that’s all that matters.”

Jazz experienced complications and had to return for a follow-up procedure. “There was just an unfortunate event and setback where things did come apart, and there was a complication,” she told the outlet. “I had to come back in for another procedure, but it was just all part of the journey. The good thing though is that it was only cosmetic and external so it wasn’t too dramatic.”

Jazz came out as transgender at age 5 and has been sharing her transition in the TLC series I Am Jazz and on her Youtube channel. FYI: Gender confirmation surgery gives “transgender individuals the physical appearance and functional abilities of the gender they know themselves to be,” according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

For a male-to-female transition, that may include facial surgery, top surgery (for the breasts) and/or bottom surgery, to reconstruct male genitalia to female genitalia. In 2016, 3,200 gender reassignment surgeries were performed in the US, an increase of 20 percent from the previous year, says ASPS data.

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