Gender Reassignment Surgery

Gender reassignment surgery is also called sex reassignment surgery, sex realignment surgery or sex affirmation surgery.  It is named for a series of procedures designed to turn a female into a male or a male into a female.  The sexual characteristics are altered so that the appearance is changed to be that of the other sex.  The procedures are done for the treatment of gender identity disorder, which is also called gender dysphoria and is used to manage transsexuals or transgender individual.  It can also be done in infancy in intersex babies who have characteristics of males and females.  It is considered a very controversial procedure.

In trans women, the procedure is called a penectomy, orchiectomy, feminizing genitoplasty or vaginoplasty.  For trans men, the procedure is called a masculinizing genitoplasty or a phalloplasty.  While there are several names for the condition, the most common name is currently considered transgender.

The procedure is designed to reshape the male or female genitals.  According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the procedure needs to include a complete hysterectomy, which includes the ovaries, a chest reconstruction and a bilateral mastectomy.  In other cases, breast implants are given and genital reconstruction is done.  Each patient requires a slightly different nuance when it comes to the genital surgery to make the structures look as close as possible to the opposite sex.  Sometimes the procedure can be done in a single operation and sometimes several operations need to be done to have an anatomically correct surgery.  In men, electrolysis is done on the face to keep it smooth.  Laser hair removal can also be done to achieve the same purpose.

Genital reassignment surgery used to be experimental; now an increasing number of health insurances recognize gender dysphoria and are paying for the procedures to be done.  They don’t always pay for every procedure necessary for gender reassignment but they pay for the vast majority of the necessary procedures important to genital reassignment.  The American Medical Association has come out saying that to deny these procedures to gender dysphoric patients is equal to discrimination of these people.  Other similar organizations have come out with similar statements in support of the insurance industry paying for these surgical procedures.

The procedures are, by definition, quite different.  A trans woman needs to have a male to female surgery.  This involves removal of the penis and the transformation of that tissue into a rebuilt vagina.  In trans men, there is a female to male transformation.  A penis is created through having a phalloplasty or a metoidioplasty.    In these cases, there is a vaginectomy in trans males and an orchiectomy or removal of the testes in trans females.

There are several complications of having a sex reassignment procedure.  For example, if the patient is positive for Hepatitis C or HIV, they may have difficulty finding a willing surgeon to perform these operations.  They may also charge greater fees for people infected with these diseases.  Those with health problems such as abnormal clotting disorders, diabetes, and obesity can usually undergo surgery if the surgeon is skilled.  Having other health problems does increase the risk of anesthetic complications and complications after surgery.  Overweight patients may be asked to lose some weight before having sex reassignment surgery.  All patients may be asked to avoid hormone replacement medication prior to surgery and smokers need to quit smoking.

Complications often involve poor surgical outcome.  It takes a skilled surgeon to do these procedures and even when skilled, the outcome might not look like the opposite sex. There can be tissue breakdown in the genital area and poor healing as a result.   Another surgery may be necessary to fix a badly done surgery.  For More Information Visit: Gynaecology Compensation Solicitors