Surgery
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Table of contents
Like with any kind of medical transitioning, wanting or not wanting gender affirming surgery does not make you more “valid” as a trans person. However, surgery can help aleviate gender dysphoria and make one feel more comfortable in their body. Despite the fact that, for some, gender affirming surgery is life saving surgery, most countries, even those with universal health care, do not cover these procedures.
This page lists some of the common surgeries available to trans people:
Feminizing
Breast Implants
A breast implant is the same procedure accessed by cisgender women, wherein a surgeon installs a silicon shell filled with gel under the breasts. These can increase a person’s breast size by multiple cups, although it’s not generally recommended to get them before your breasts have finished growing. Breast implants are considered a temporary surgery, with most needing removal after a decade or so.
Facial Feminization Surgery
Facial Feminization Surgery, or FFS, refers to a range of possible alterations made to the face that help alter the structure in a feminizing way.
Orchiectomy
An orchiectomy, or “orchy”, is a procedure to remove the testes from a male body. Since the testes are responsible for producing testosterone and sperm in the male body, their removal also means the removal of a need to take testosterone blockers.
Vocal Surgery
Since feminizing hormones do not alter a person’s voice, people who experienced a male puberty who want a more typically “feminine” voice must do so either behaviourally or surgically. Vocal surgery refers to a range of techniques with a range of complexity. Unlike behavioural changes, most techniques result in a permanent loss of vocal range.
Gender Reassignment Surgery
Gender reassignment surgery broadly refers to a range of surgeries aimed at reconstructing the genital area into one that more closely aligns with the person’s identity. For femmes, this typically involves a vaginoplasty, where a vagina is formed from penile or other tissue. The most common method of doing this is “penile inversion”, although the field is constantly evolving. Vulvoplasty, where a vulva with a shallow or no vagina is formed is another type of gender affirming surgery.
Masculinizing
Top Surgery
Top surgery, or the removal of breast tissue, is a popular and effective affirming surgery performed to masculinize a body that has experienced a female puberty. Top surgery typically results in light scarring under the chest.
Hysterectomy
A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that removes all or part of the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries.
Gender Reassignment Surgery
Gender reassignment surgery broadly refers to a range of surgeries aimed at reconstructing the genital area into one that more closely aligns with the person’s identity. For mascs, this typically involves a phalloplasty, where a penis is formed from existing tissue and the urethra is reconstructed to allow for standing urination.