All Procedures
Male-to-female gender reassignment surgery (MTF GRS) is a complex and irreversible genital surgery for male transsexual who is diagnosed with gender identity disorder and has a strong desire to live as female. The procedure is to remove all male genital organs including the penis and testes with the construction of female genitalia composed of labia major/minor, clitoris and neovagina simultaneously.
The patient who is fit for this surgery must strictly follow the standard of care set by the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH) or equivalent criteria; Express desire or live in another gender role (Male gender) long enough, under hormonal replacement therapy, evaluated and approved by a psychiatrist or other qualified professional gender therapist.
Apart from genital surgery, the patient would seek other procedures to allow them to live as female smoothly such as breast aesthetic surgery, facial feminization surgery, body contouring, hair removal, voice change surgery, etc.
Useful Information
Ensure you consider all aspects of a procedure. You can speak to your surgeon about these areas of the surgery in more detail during a consultation.
Length
The surgery is quite complicated and only a handful of surgeons are able to perform this procedure. It can be completed in one stage or more stages depending on techniques and surgeons. The average surgical time ranges between 5-8 hours. There are several options of neovaginal construction depending on the type of tissue, single or in combination, such as penile skin, scrotal skin, large intestine, small intestine, or peritoneum.
Anesthesia
The procedure is done under general anesthesia and might be combined with spinal anesthesia for faster recovery by reducing the usage of anesthetic gas.
Inpatient/Outpatient
The patient will be hospitalized as an in-patient for between 5-14 days depending on the technique and surgeon. The patient will have a urinary catheter at all times in the hospital.
Additional Information
During hospitalization, the patient must be restricted in bed continuously or intermittently for several days between 3-5 days. After release from the hospital, the patient can return to their normal lives but not have to do physical exercise during the first 2 months after surgery. The patient has to do vaginal dilation continuously for 6 months to maintain the neovagina canal until completely healed and is ready for sexual intimacy.
With the good surgical technique, the result is very satisfying with an improved quality of life. The patient is able to live in a female role completely and happily either on their own or with their male or female partners.
The most frequent complication of MTF GRS is bleeding, wound infection, skin flap or graft necrosis, urinary stenosis, neovaginal contracture, unsightly scar or deformed genitalia, vaginal fistula, etc. The revision procedures to improve external appearance are composed of secondary labiaplasty/ urethroplasty/ perineoplasty/ and vulvaplasty. The other revision procedure is secondary vaginoplasty to help the patient able to have sexual intimacy with the partner.