| |
Female to Male Sex Reassignment Surgery
Sex Reassignment surgery has been continuously improved and technically developed. The results of surgery are effective – a neo-penis can be functioned nearly the same as a natural one. However the surgery should be performed by a specialist who is experienced with this kind of surgery. So any patient who wants to have this surgery should carefully look for a fully surgically equipped hospital and a professional medical team.
In general, Gender Identity Disorder (GID) patients are treated under an international standard based on ‘W.P.A.T.H.’. Yanhee International Hospital and its clinical team follow the WPATH standard, and the requirements of Thai law, which require that two psychiatrists examine and diagnose a patient. As long as both psychiatrists agree that Sex Reassignment Surgery is the best treatment for the patient they will release a letter of recommendation to the patient. And then the patient will be referred to a surgeon for treatment.
According to W.P.A.T.H., besides the diagnosis, there are some more factors to be considered before going through with any surgery, they are as follows;
| 1. |
The patient genuinely feels that she wishes to be a man. |
| 2. |
The patient has been happily living as a man with no pressure, and is socially accepted. |
| 3. |
The patient has been fully living as a man for over one year. |
| 4. |
If the patient wants some important female organs, such as uterus or ovaries removed, they must have been taking male sex hormones for more than one year. |
| 5. |
The patient must be psychologically evaluated by at least two psychiatrists on whether she can successfully go through the surgery with no contraindications. |
After going through the consideration points mentioned above, it is necessary that the patient is well prepared before having the surgery. There are certain patient’s qualifications to be checked as follows:
| 1. |
The patient must be 20 years old or above. If the patient is not yet 20 years old, a consent letter with the patient’s parent or guardian signature is needed. |
| 2. |
The patient must have a complete physical examination and overall health check up, in order to have a full physical preparation and receive any necessary treatments, if needed, before having the surgery. |
| 3. |
Before the surgery, the patient should stop taking male sex hormones for at least 2 weeks as well as quit smoking for at least 3 months. In the event that the patient wants to have the second and the third stages of the surgery, it is compulsory that she completely stops smoking. |
| 4. |
In cases where associated disease is persisted, or if taking any medication (including vitamin supplement), it is very important that the doctor should be informed early in order to provide proper medical advice. i.e. it may be prudent to stop or change any medication prior to any treatment or surgery. |
| 5. |
The patient must have ‘nil by mouth’ for at least 6 hours before surgery.. |
| 6. |
In the third stage of surgery, the patient has to be admitted into hospital at least one or two days prior to surgery in order to receive such procedures as colonic irrigation, health check up, blood tests, operating room reservation, and surgical team preparation, etc. |
Female to Male Sex Reassignment Surgery procedure at Yanhee International Hospital is performed in 3 stages.
| 1st stage: |
- |
Mastectomy (removal of the breasts) |
| |
- |
Total Abdominal Hysterectomy with Bilateral Salphingo-Oophorectomy (surgery to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries) |
| 2nd stage: |
- |
Vaginectomy & Urethral Lengthening (this procedure is performed to obliterate the vaginal cavity and to lengthen the urethra for proper urination) |
| |
- |
Urethral Prefabrication (surgery to create a neo-urethra in the patient’s forearm by using tissue from around the hips) |
| 3rd stage: |
- |
Total Phalloplasty (surgery to create a new phallus made from tissue around the forearm and neo-testicles created from Labia Majora tissue) |
The process of Female-To-Male Sex Reassignment Surgery is performed separately in three stages with at least 3-6 months interval between each stage.
By following these three well defined stages, the patient has enough time to physically and mentally prepared for surgery at each stage. This results in good recuperation from surgery and the surgical site’s tissues also recovers better, before going through to the next stage.
Moreover, this provides the patient with a choice as to how much change of body she desires. Some patients prefer to change some part of their body, whilst others want full male organs.
Female-To-Male Sex Reassignment Surgery can entirely change the patient’s whole outlook on life. However, the patient will be satisfied with the result of the surgery only as long as the operation is successful - all surgical organs will look natural but only without any severe complications. Therefore it is of utmost importance that a well-trained medical and nursing team, which is experienced in this field, together with other experts from various fields, and a modern and fully equipped hospital is chosen for this series of irreversible surgical procedures.
In addition, Yanhee International Hospital always provides a special nurse coordinator to liaise with the patient, and provide all pre and post operative care instructions. The professional nurse co-ordination team at Yanhee has been specially trained and will assist individual patients to ensure them that the best medical care service is provided. Their aim is to see all patients having sex re-assignment surgery are happy and healthy, both mentally and physically, post surgery.
PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY DEPARTMENT
Yanhee International Hospital |
|
