In today’s world, a significant population of transgender is present and the community is slowly becoming acceptable all over the world. In fact, in all avenues, the community is recognized as a “gender type”, the other being female and male. But in certain cases, transgender people often want to have a particular type of gender or people very often feel that they should ideally belong to the opposite gender. In this case, a typical procedure is followed which is called “gender affirmation or sex change”.

The “gender affirmation” procedure can be defined as an alteration of the physical and reproductive appearance of any individual using a series of processes. The procedure is generally of two distinctive types; the “male to female” surgery and the “female to male” surgery. Both these procedures involve the same basic procedure, and only differ with alteration in hormone administration at the initial stage.

Now let’s know in detail about the procedure, its types and all steps involved in it.

What is a sex change surgery, what are its types and how the process is carried out?

As discussed earlier, sex change or gender reaffirmation surgery is a set of processes, as a result of which a transgender person’s physical and sexual characteristics are altered.

The procedure comprises 2 subsets, the “female to male” and the “male to female” sex change surgery.

In “female to male” surgery, the processes involve numerous steps and are certain independent procedures on which the overall success of the surgery drastically depends.

The initial phase involves a prognosis of the gender “dissociative gender identity disorder”, in which the symptoms are analyzed and accordingly, the subsequent steps are followed. This process provides the inference if the surgery is required or not.

The next step includes the administration of certain hormones called “androgens”. These help to develop secondary male reproductive features such as facial and body hair. “Hormonal therapy” is one of the most essential steps involved in the surgery and very often is given the credit for the success of the procedure.

After the body has responded well to hormonal therapy, the restructuring of the physical and genital organs is carried out. It involves the removal of breasts (mastectomy) and the female reproductive organs such as the uterus, ovary and fallopian tube. After a small portion of time, the altered body and the mind start to function in a coordinated manner. Elongating the urethral passage to allow standing urination, is estimated to be the most difficult part of the process. This is generally done by the creation of a “neopenis”, which involves altering the clitoris into a penis using the process of skin grafting.

Contrastingly, in a “male to female” surgery, only the hormone is replaced by a female hormone or “estrogen”. Following this, typical reconstructive procedures like vaginoplasty, mammoplasty and facial altering are performed to invoke feminine characteristics in the body.

Who can have the procedure?

Usually, sex change surgery is preferred by transgender patients.

Healthy people excluding any medical condition like hypertension, clotting, depression and any previous surgical casualties are the most compatible ones to prefer the procedure.

In addition to this, people devoid of any history of using carcinogens and who are determined to maintain a healthy lifestyle are the best candidates.

How long does the process take and what are the side effects and risks involved?

The duration of the procedure varies according to the type and extent of the surgery, which is generally different for patients. Usually, it takes anywhere from four to five for the procedure to complete. Generally, the procedure is carried out in a step-by-step process.

The procedure is usually credited to be “risk-free” in nature but infections and blood clots are some of the minor potential risk factors associated with reconstructive procedures, but these very much occur in rarity.

If there are any symptoms related to infection, the patient has to visit the expert. The infection is usually a minor one and gets treated by using relevant antibiotics. Other than this, the patient doesn’t need to follow up with the doctor.

The procedure is usually “pain-free”, both during and post the procedure. If pain occurs, it is from mild to moderate and gets away with natural healing, providing a healthy post-surgical lifestyle is maintained. The after-effects of the process are usually nil and are very well tolerated.

When can one expect to completely recover following the procedure?

The recovery period varies from person to person. It depends a lot upon the natural healing ability of the patient as well as the nature and extent of the surgery. Usually, complete recovery takes some months to see the full-fledged results of the procedure. On a generalized note, the recovery period ranges anywhere between 3 to 5 months, although one is free to continue day-to-day work after the post-surgical incubation period gets over. Recovery is usually “complication” free and is reported to be very smooth if accompanied by a healthy lifestyle and proper use of instructed medicines and topicals.