Gender Change Surgery

A person gets the identity of male or female in the mother's womb. There are certain hormones which makes you a male or female. Those who are born with female organs like ovary, uterus and vagina are termed as female. As you grow up the female organs like ovary should produce the hormone estrogen which makes the female features prominent. Estrogen helps in the growth of breasts around puberty. It also helps in developing the female reproductive organs like uterus, eggs in the ovaries and keeps the vagina lubricated. It is these hormones which brings about the feeling of a female in you. If these hormones are not getting produced and the male hormones in your body are higher than the female hormones then you would feel like a male trapped in a female body. Such people will show the following symptoms :

Dressing up like a male

Getting attracted to females

Not feeling any attraction for males

If you feel that you are a male but born as a female then you need to contact our Gender change specialist doctor at CLAGS, Mohali in Punjab. The first step would be to get a psychiatric and psychological evaluation. You will have to undergo several sessions with the psychiatrist before it is certified that you need a gender change surgery. Once this certification is done then our cosmetic surgeon will discuss with you the pros and cons of undergoing this procedure. Sex change surgery from female to male involves several steps. It includes hormonal therapy with testosterone. Gender-affirming surgery includes removal of breasts called mastectomy. Then there is genital or bottom surgeries like removal of uterus called hystrectomy. Removal of ovaries called oophorectomy, removal of vagina called vaginectomy. Metoidoplasty or phalloplasty are done to create a penis. Penile implant surgery may be needed to get erection in the penis. If you want to have a scrotum then scrotoplasty may be done using silicon testicles.

One must know that in the female to male sex change surgery you are given the sexual organs of a male but not the reproductive organs like testicles. This means that you would not produce sperm and cannot get a woman pregnant through sexual intercourse.

Surgical Procedures

Female to Male Gender reassignment or gender change surgery involves several surgical procedures at CLAGS Centre, Mohali, Punjab :

Hystrectomy - In this surgery, the surgeon at CLAGS Mohali will remove the uterus. The surgery can be done laparoscopically or through the vaginal route without giving any incision.

Bilateral Salpingo-oophorectomy - This surgery involves the removal of the right and left fallopian tubes and both the ovaries.

Metoidoplasty - This procedure involves changing the clitoris into a penis. A person will receive hormone therapy before the surgery to enlarge the clitoris for this purpose. During the procedure, the surgeon also removes the vagina in a vaginectomy. They lengthen the urethra and position it through the neopenis. To achieve the lengthening, the surgeon uses tissues from the cheek, labia minora, or other parts of the vagina. The aim of this is to allow the person to urinate while standing. An advantage of metoidioplasty is that the neopenis may become erect due to the erectile abilities of clitoral tissue.

Phalloplasty - In this procedure, the surgeon will remove skin from the arm, thigh, back or abdomen to create a new penis. PHalloplasty gives you a bigger penis as compared to metoidoplasty. The flip side is that this penis cannot get erect on its own. The patients who undergo phalloplasty will have to get penile implant surgery to get erection and have penetrative sex.

Scrotoplasty - In this procedure the surgeon hollows out and repositions the labia majora to form a scrotum and inserts silicone testicular implants.

Mastectomy - In this surgery the breasts are removed and the chest is flattened. The nipples are also repositioned. Testosterone replacement therapy is given to get hair growth on the chest and the face.

Best Doctors and Cost

These surgeries are not done at one go. There are various phases to it. Initial consultations, investigations and hormonal therapy provides the platform for the further procedures. Even the surgereis happen in phased manner. The first surgery is removal of uterus, ovaries, vagina and creation of penis. These can be done in one or two sittings. The gap between the two surgeries would be 2-3 months. If the patient opts for phalloplasty then 3 months later penile implant surgery can be done. Scrotoplasty can be done alongwith penile implant surgery. Mastectomy can be done 3 months after the penile implant surgery. All these surgeries can be completed over a one year period.

The cost of complete treatment of female to male sex change surgery at CLAGS Centre for Laser Aesthetics and Gynecology Services in Mohali, Punjab would be in the range of Rs. 8 to 10 lacs over one year period. The cost would be less for some patients who may not require all these surgeries. Some patients who require only the removal of uterus, ovaries and the fallopian tubes the cost would be Rs. 1.5 - 2 Lacs. The cost of scrotoplasty would be Rs. 1.5 - 2.0 lacs using silicone testicle implants. The ooft of Metoidoplasty would be Rs. 2 - 2.5 lacs while the cost of Phalloplasty would be Rs. 3 - 3.5 Lacs. The cost of penile implant surgery would be Rs. 1.5 - 2 Lacs if Indian malleable implant is used in the penis. However if the patient opts for 2 piece or 3 piece inflatable implant in the penis then the cost of this surgery itself goes up to Rs. 8 - 12 Lacs. This is due to the cost of the imported implant from Boston Scientific.

The team of surgeons at CLAGS, Mohali in Punjab have vast experience in doing these surgeries with excellent outcomes. Our team of doctors for sex change surgery include cosmetic surgeon, urologist, general surgeon, gynae surgeon, psychiatrist, anesthetist and psychologist.

The hospital stay for each of these surgeries would be 3-4 days and post surgical care would be needed for atleast 2 weeks for each of the surgery.