Sex reassignment surgery is:
Also known as sex change or gender reassignment surgery, sex reassignment surgery is a procedure that changes genital organs from one gender to another.
Sex reassignment surgery will benefit for:
There are two main purposes to alter the genital organs from one sex to another.
- Newborns with intersex deformities must early on be assigned to one sex or the other.
- Both men and women occasionally believe they are physically a different sex than they are mentally and emotionally. This dissonance is so profound that they are willing to be surgically altered.
The Surgery:
Converting male to female anatomy requires removal of the penis, reshaping genital tissue to appear more female, and constructing a vagina. A vagina can be successfully formed from a skin graft or an isolated loop of intestine. Following the surgery, female hormones (estrogen) will reshape the body's contours and stimulate the growth of satisfactory breasts.
To change male genitalia to female genitalia, an incision is made into the scrotum (A). The flap of skin is pulled back, and the testes are removed (B). The skin is stripped from the penis but left attached, and a shorter urethra is cut (C). All but a stump of the penis is removed (D). The excess skin is used to create the labia (external genitalia) and vagina (E).
(Illustration by GGS Inc.)
Persons undergoing
gender reassignment surgery can expect to acquire the external genitalia of a member of the opposite gender. Persons having
male to female gender reassignment surgery retain a prostate. Individuals undergoing
female to male gender reassignment surgery undergo a hysterectomy to remove the uterus and oophorectomy to remove their ovaries. Developing the habits and mannerisms characteristic of the patient's new gender requires many months or years.
Female to male surgery has achieved lesser success due to the difficulty of creating a functioning penis from the much smaller clitoral tissue available in the female genitals. Penis construction is not attempted less than a year after the preliminary surgery to remove the female organs. Nevertheless, they were all pleased with the change of sex. Besides the genital organs, the breasts need to be surgically altered for a more male appearance. This can be successfully accomplished.
Preparation for sex reassignment surgery:
Gender identity is an extremely important characteristic for human beings. Assigning it must take place immediately after birth. Changing sexual identity is among the most significant changes that a human can experience. It should therefore be undertaken with extreme care and caution.
In-depth psychological counseling should precede and follow any
gender reassignment surgery.
After surgery care:
Social support, particularly from one's family, is important for readjustment as a member of the opposite gender. If surgical candidates are socially or emotionally unstable before the operation, or have an unsuitable body build for the new gender, they tend not to fare well after
gender reassignment surgery.
Psychiatric care may be required for many years after
sex-reassignment surgery.
Risks of sex reassignment surgery:
The risks that are associated with any surgical procedure are present in
gender reassignment surgery. These include infection, postoperative pain, and dissatisfaction with anticipated results. Accurate statistics are extremely difficult to find. Intraoperative death has not been reported.
The most common complication of
male to female surgery is narrowing of the new vagina. This can be corrected by dilation or using a portion of colon to form a vagina.
A relatively common complication of
female to male surgery is dysfunction of the penis. Implanting a penile prosthesis is technically difficult and does not have uniformly acceptable results.
