Transgender 101: Episode 4; "The surgery"

Last week we talked about the baseless accusations against Trans people, and the general misunderstandings that go into those assumptions. This week we are going to chase that theme a bit and look at the reality of what surgery is to a Trans person. What do we mean when we talk about surgery in the community and why we get so offended when everyone endlessly talks about our junk.

So the first thing to understand is that there are exactly zero surgeries "necessary" to be trans. A person who never gets a single surgery is just as valid as a trans person who gets them all. Secondly there is no point in time that a transgender person owes you there surgical status, if we want to talk about it fine, but we don't owe you that conversation. Its just as uncomfortable to talk about our privates as it is for you to talk about yours but we get asked four times a day. That being said lets start with the less invasive surgeries.

So from the face down is how I normally describe the surgical options for Trans individuals.

There is FFS and FMS

Facial Feminization/Masculinization Surgery.

The goal with these procedures is to smooth out the aspects made prominent through having grown with the wrong hormonal makeup. There are varying degrees of this surgery, it can encompass the entire face or just the nose and jaw, its different for each individual. Most of the time this has to come from your pocket only a very few insurance companies cover this. There are wonderful results with this but not alot of us can afford it so its kinda a pipe dream but a big deal if it happens.

Next is voice, this is mainly for trans women as testosterone affects voice pitch whereas estrogen does not. It used to be that certain pitches where snipped out of your voice box, the process has come a long way and now there are very non-invasive banding that can make a massive difference.

Then the all important chest surgeries. So for Trans men this can literally save their life as binding their breasts in to create a male chest is extremely damaging and can lead to blood clots and severe lung and back problems. This surgery for FtM individuals is extremely important.

Trans women go in the opposite direction and get breast implants. Where as hormones do help you grow a chest some of us are in need of a little help in that area. This helps with body dysmorphia and helps with safety in public and passing as well. Its kinda a big deal and once again this is something insurance is only just starting to cover. These procedures typically cost upwards of 10,000.00 here in the states and for some of us though we are in kinda desperate need the are out of the question for now. I am saving for mine =-).

There are various procedures for everyone that apply to trans people as well like moving fat and getting implants in other areas, when people want these and can get them its great and i fully support their journey, they just are not trans specific so i'm not going into them all.

The next and last surgeries i'm going to talk about is the lower surgeries.

Vaginoplasty and Genital Reconstruction surgery.

The end result of these surgeries speak for themselves and as modern techniques improve the end results are just getting better. It's the way to normality for some of us, a way to move forward in life . These surgeries save lives and salvage lives and where as we don't all need surgeries for those of us that do it is a monumental step forward into just being normal. Uhg normal sounds soooo good. These are the ordeals trans people face on there way to good health. Nobody undertakes this journey litely.

These surgeries are just a part of solving an issue we were born with there is nothing gross or alien about it it's the simple fix of a problem for us personally. There are varying degrees of these surgeries. Bits that can be done before the main event. Like for me I had my testicals removed to stop my testosterone production. Trans men can have there hysterectomy before the main surgery as well. We all have our own path as far as transition goes. What is important to remember is that we are just people doing our best to succeed in life.

Thank you for your polite questions on this, im more than happy to discuss things with you.