Hunter Schafer Reveals She Had Bottom Surgery Last Year

Hunter Schafer underwent a major gender-affirming procedure not too long ago ... revealing she had bottom surgery last year.

She told Elle ... "I just had bottom surgery in December, which was amazing, and I love it so much."

If you're unfamiliar, bottom surgery is an operation to change a person's genitals -- often through removal and/or reconstruction -- to better align with their gender identity.

The actress told the mag she "wanted to try to make that previous body work" because she thought the "gender-expansive" part of herself was "really cool and badass."

But ultimately, she decided that -- while every trans person's wants and needs are different -- medically transitioning was the right move for her.

Hunter described a bit of the recovery period, noting she was forced to lie down a lot because her step count was severely limited.