Sex Reassignment Surgery Male To Female
Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) is performed to transition individuals with gender dysphoria to their desired gender. It is important to note that SRS is the umbrella term for a number of procedures that transform the anatomical sex of an individual, with the most prominent procedure being genital reassignment surgery. SRS is alternatively known as gender confirmation surgery, sex confirmation surgery, gender reassignment surgery, gender realignment surgery, gender reaffirmation surgery, or sex realignment surgery. We will also reference these other terms throughout the guide.
The below guide is designed to be a primer for individuals seeking information about SRS in the case of male to female surgery, but will have a focus on genital reassignment surgery.
When undergoing genital reassignment surgery to transition from male to female, surgery generally includes at least one of the following:
Removal of the testicles (orchiectomy)
Removal of the penis (penectomy)
Creation of a vagina (vaginoplasty), labia (labiaplasty), clitoris (clitoroplasty) and/or vulva (vulvoplasty) through the reshaping of the penis and scrotum
However, within the term SRS, surgery can be performed on multiple parts of the body:
Tracheal Shave: surgical procedure to reduce cartilage in the throat to make the appearance more feminine (also known as Adam’s Apple Removal)
Breast Augmentation: a surgical procedure using implants and/or fat grafting to create female breasts, optimizing for size, shape, and texture
Buttock Augmentation: a surgical procedure using implants and/or fat grafting to alter the size, shape, and texture of the buttocks
Facial Feminization Surgery (FFS): a set of surgical procedures that, in conjunction with hormone therapy, change the masculine features of a male face to be more feminine
Body Sculpting: a set of surgical procedures that aim to enhance the appearance of the body, which includes evening out fatty tissue deposits, reducing localized excess, and providing the desired feminization of the body.
Hair Grafting: surgical procedure to augment female-pattern body hair developed with hormone therapy
We have tried to be as objective as possible in presenting the most accurate information available, but due to the highly personal nature of this procedure, each individual should also conduct their own research beyond this guide to ensure they are making an informed choice that is best for their needs.
The content has been reviewed for quality and accuracy to the best of our knowledge by Qunomedical and its Medical Board of Experts.
JuliaPatient Manager“Qunomedical helped me so much! Thank you!“
“Qunomedical helped me so much! Thank you!“
QUICK DETAILS
WHO IS THIS FOR
People with gender dysphoria, looking to surgically transition through male to female surgery.
People who have begun their medical transition, at a minimum through hormone therapy, or combined with other male to female surgery procedures.
People who have been living in their assigned gender role for a minimum of 12 months.
SUCCESS
As a surgical procedure, genital reassignment surgery has very high rates of success when it is performed by responsible and experienced surgeons. However, as a procedure where body dysmorphia is involved, there is a risk of regret or dissatisfaction. It is highly recommended that patients seek post-operative support from a trusted professional and/or personal network to minimise this risk.
RECOVERY TIME
Short-term: three to seven days in the hospital.
Mid-term: seven to 10 days after SRS, the sutures are removed.
Long-term: five to eight weeks before resuming physical activity/returning to work.
TREATMENT DURATION
Generally, 5 to 6 hours, depending on complexity.
POTENTIAL RISKS & SIDE EFFECTS
Typical surgery risk of infection, bleeding, pain, and scarring
General anaesthetic-associated risk
Fistula (opening between the rectum and vagina)
Decreased sexual sensation, or ability to orgasm
Partial or total death of the tissue used to create the new vagina, labia, or clitoris
Narrowing or closure of the new vagina or urethra
Prolapse
Hair growth in the vagina
Unsatisfactory size or shape of the new vagina, clitoris, or labia
Cost
PRICE CALCULATION
The starting prices for a gender reassignment surgery, male to female, in different countries are listed below. For SRS, surgery always includes several interventions. We are there for you and support you in your decisions. You are always welcome to contact us for detailed information.
Below are starting prices for Sex Reassignment Surgery Male To Female in different countries
| Country | Price (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Mexico | € 8,940 |
| Thailand | € 11,560 |
How does it work?
How can I access sex reassignment surgery?
Before pursuing SRS, particularly genital reassignment surgery, it is recommended that you reflect on whether the procedure is right for you, and the right time to pursue it.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) suggests the following prerequisites:
You have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Surgery has been recommended by 2 mental health specialists trained in gender identity issues, preferably who have known the patient for more than a year
Hormone treatment for at least one year
Living as your gender identity for a minimum of one year
Emotionally stable
Medically healthy with any medical conditions being treated and under control
Your physical and mental well-being prior to surgery are vital to preparing for the changes that you will go through in the lead up to and recovery from sex reassignment surgery.
Physical readiness means you have considered the following and consulted a health professional throughout the process:
Health condition: You should be healthy overall, but if you have any pre-existing conditions, they need to be discussed with your surgeon and healthcare provider to ensure they can be managed before and after surgery (for example diabetes or HIV can impact surgery, but not necessarily prevent you from having it).
Pre-surgery physical requirements: You will need to have undergone hormone therapy for a minimum of 12 months prior to surgery, but will also need to taper off estrogen use in the lead up to surgery. It is also recommended to undergo electrolysis before vaginoplasty to avoid hair growth in future.
Post-surgery requirements: Do you have a safe, supportive space to recover post surgery? This includes access to understanding healthcare professionals and a support network (friends, family, community and mental health professionals) who can help you through the process.
Mental well-being means you have the following:
A solid sense of your gender identity: This is not a procedure for people who have just started to explore issues around gender identity. Medical professionals recommend you have lived as your chosen gender identity for a minimum of a year.
Understanding of the mental journey ahead: While it is common to feel liberated after genital reassignment surgery, this is not always an immediate feeling. It is important to consider your readiness for the emotional ups and downs after surgery. It can be difficult to adjust to changes to how your body looks and feels, to cope with pain or other physical complications, or other people’s reactions. While the negative emotions are not guaranteed, if you don’t feel you have the emotional resilience to deal with these possibilities, now might not be the right time to pursue this procedure.
If you are sure that this is the option for you, but not right now, you don’t have to abandon genital reassignment surgery altogether.
You can still work towards the procedure by considering what might help you get to the point where you are ready – counselling, medical treatment, peer support, etc. – and slowly but surely making life changes to move closer to readiness.
In fact, there are even clinics who specialise in genital reassignment surgery who can also help you locate and access these resources.
The most important thing is ensuring you are pursuing surgery on the terms that are best for you and your journey.
What questions should I ask my doctor before sex reassignment surgery?
Each person’s reasons for pursuing genital reassignment change are highly personal with varied ideal outcomes for each person.
Overall, it is important to understand the surgeon’s goals (based on best practices) and assess if and how they align with your own.
The surgeon will aim to:
Create a vagina that looks and functions as naturally possible (i.e. shape, sensitivity, form for sexual penetration)
Create a clitoris, labia, and opening to the vagina (introitus) that look realistic and maintain good touch sensation (i.e. you can feel it when they are touched)
Preserve the ability to have orgasms
Alter the structures of the urinary tract
If any of these goals are particularly important, or if you have other outcomes in mind, it is best to thoroughly discuss this with your surgeon to ensure that by surgery day, you feel comfortable about your own realistic post-operative goals.
How does male to female sex reassignment surgery work?
Male to female (MTF) genital reassignment surgery has three key parts:
Removal of the testicles (orchiectomy)
Removal of the penis (penectomy)
Creation of a vagina (vaginoplasty), labia (labiaplasty), clitoris (clitoroplasty), and/or vulva (vulvoplasty)
After the testicles are removed, the penile skin, glans, blood vessels, nerves and urethra are separated from the penile shaft, and the erectile tissue of the penis is removed as close to the body as possible.
The most common technique for creating a vagina is the penile inversion. The penis skin is turned inside out so that the outer skin becomes the inner lining of the vagina.
Penile skin or scrotal tissue is then also used to form the labia. In some cases, extra skin is required to make the vagina longer or wider; this is usually taken from the lower abdomen or the scrotal sac. A segment of your large intestine may be used to create the vagina if the penile inversion fails or is not possible.
As part of the penile inversion, a small section of the head of the penis – the part that is most sensitive – is used to create a new clitoris.
The blood supply and nerves of the glans, or head of the penis, are kept intact and it is transformed into a functional clitoris, and the urethra is shortened and positioned like it would be in a female.
Finally, incisions are then made to expose the new urethra and the clitoris in their correct positions.
What can I expect at the hospital during my MTF sex reassignment surgery?
Generally you will be admitted to hospital the day before your SRS, so that your doctors can assess your overall health.
Due to the length of surgery time and the area operated on, you will also likely have a “bowel prep” to clean out your intestines. This helps to prevent problems during surgery and also reduces discomfort going to the bathroom after surgery.
You will be unable to eat or drink after midnight the night before you have surgery and will be shaved in preparation.
How long will I stay in the hospital after MTF sex reassignment surgery?
After genital reassignment surgery, patients will generally stay in hospital for 3 to 7 days to minimize risk of infection and ensure your doctor can check your general health and healing process.
For example, you will be asked questions about your bowel and bladder function, and the surgical incisions will be checked for infection and scarring.
Most importantly, the body will treat the new vagina as a wound, so after the surgery, in order to maintain the width and depth of the new vagina, it must be kept dilated using medical graduated dilators.
Your surgeon and nurse will be able to monitor this process to ensure you feel confident managing this process on your own outside of their care.
Additionally, if you had a graft as a part of the procedure, you will have an incision on your abdomen, just above the pubic bone. Hospital staff will check this incision and change your dressings on a regular basis.
The stitches from your surgery will dissolve or be removed 7 to 10 days after surgery and you will be able to leave the hospital once your surgeon is confident that you are healing well.
How long will it take to fully recover from MTF sex reassignment surgery?
After you go home, it is important to have appointments scheduled with your trusted GP and mental health professionals to ensure you are supported in this stage of your recovery.
You can go back to your usual routine when you feel well enough to do so, which is typically 4 to 6 weeks but can also be longer in some cases.
Most importantly, for the first 8 weeks you will continue to wear a prosthesis inside your vagina most of the time, ensuring it doesn’t heal too narrowly or shallowly.
The amount of time the prosthesis is left out will gradually be increased as per your surgeon’s advice, but as a reference, you can consider the following timeline:
Week 1 to 3: 4 times a day
Week 4 to 6: 3 times a day
Week 7 to 9: 2 times a day
Week 10 to 12: 1 time a day
Week 13 and beyond: Dilation or intercourse at least once or twice a week for the rest of your life.
Male To Female Surgery Reviews
Male To Female Surgery Reviews
512.08.2019
I had 2 procedures, cheek augmentation and male to female vaginoplasty, the results of both of which are outstanding! I will talk of the vaginoplasty later because it was the most life-changing and important and satisfying, however, foremost, generally speaking, from the time that I first picked up the phone and/or wrote the first email, to well after the surgery and recovery, Qunomedical (especially Catherine and Jannis) was there for me, answering and/or finding the answer to every question I had. They verified my welfare throughout and facilitated my hotel, flight and everything else. It was the most serious decision I was making, yet it was the easiest event in my life because of Qunomedial and its wonderful staff. My story is simple, like so many: since I was a child, I knew this was right. I had counselor upon counselor even tell me so. Finally, after numerous postponements due to injuries, job changes, lack of money at the time or other circumstances in my life, I finally was about to give up due to cost until y counselor mentioned that they were other options available to me. So I looked online and found so many positive things stated about Qunomedical that I thought I would give them a call. They had options that I didn't know even existed. I chose not the cheapest but the best and that 1/2 the cost of the states which leads me to the most an important thing I would like to mention. Some patients are trying to find the cheapest and get the most bang for the buck--I was no different. I had contacted a doctor in India who may have done a great job, but he was more than willing to do all the procedures I wanted (which were way too many). What do I mean? Let me put it in perspective for you. Qunomedical’s doctor Dr. Ivan Aquilar told me up front that he would be more than happy to do all the procedures, but that he couldn’t do all of them at the same time because it would risk my health—I could easily develop a blood clot leaving me dead or a vegetable—and that there was no money anyone could pay him to do that and that he would not do anything to jeopardize my health. This doctor pout my health first. He wanted a happy, satisfied and alive patient. When I spoke with my Primary Care Physician here in the states later about it, he stated that the doctor was absolutely correct. The bottom line is that without Qunomedical and their certified doctors, I may not be writing this to you right now. As for the results, I couldn’t believe how natural and normal it looks and feels (and I still have 5 more months for the final results for this kind of surgery. Furthermore, and I can’t express this any stronger, I never felt pain from the surgery to the present—this is unprecedented from the stories I have read. He has a technique which is phenomenal, and I swear on my honor, I never felt pain, nor did I ever experience incontinence or discomfort urinating. This doctor is the absolute best, and he did study under Marci Bowers (the gold standard). The other day, Jannis emailed me and asked me how I was doing, and was thrilled to hear how happy and whole I am as a person mentally, physically and emotionally. None of this would have been possible without Qunomedical. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will continue to use their doctors for all of my upcoming elective surgeries, and I cannot express to you enough how grateful I am. I caution readers to remember, you can choose whatever doctor you want, but Qunomedical knows how their patients respond and they listen, and they want you to have a doctor who has proven that he/she is not just capable, but that will put your health first and will offer you the best chance of success, for you also have to understand that each human body heals differently and even in the best hands, some people are just prone to complications. The bottom line is that you don’t want to start off behind the 8-ball by using a doctor who is just another name in the phone book and whose history is checkered with less than successful results. Qunomedical wants to know, and your best line of defense is Qunomedical. They don’t get a commission form each patient; that is now how it works. So, they want successful repeat patients, and with me, they have one!
04.08.2016
I cannot begin to express how pleased I am that I pushed past my fears of a "new culture", "new language" and being along to come to Yanhee Hospital. From the time I chatted online with Maureen, she answered all my questions. I was so pleased with how wonderful everything was and the fact that Dr. Visut would take the time to answer my emails personally. I knew I had to meet this man and trusted him with my health and such a personal surgery. <br> Miss Joanne is so professional, kind and thoughtful and Pla was available to help in all ways. Always smiling when I would see either of them. There were so many nursing staff I can't begin to name them but they all treated me with care and kindness. The Dental Center was also great!! <br><br> Thank so much Dr. Araya for your kindness, assurance, concern for my pain - it hurt each time (smile). Going beyond the call of duty!!! See you soon. Your assistant was also so kind and respectful. There is not enough space to say thank you!! Thank you!!
04.08.2016
It has been a real experience for me. The nurses and doctors here are very helpful, even with the language barrier it was still informative and understanding.<br> My surgery was not as bad as I expected with pain and other things but I was made comfortable as much as possible. I am happy with my result and am thinking of coming back for other procedures. <br> I do recommend Yanhee to others as my experience has been great especially with the staff. Thank you so much especially to nurses Jean and Dana. It has been a pleasure meeting you ladies. Take care and I'll see you next time.
03.08.2016
Well from the day of admission to discharge I always knew I was in good hands. The nurses attended to my every need and I faced virtually no pain since the operation. <br><br> I am satisfied by the results and also found quite surprising what one hospital could amount to, being a total health care center.<br> Yanhee Hospital is an upstanding example of modern medical care and it deserves the accolades and future developments it gets.
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