By Danni Hawkins
A series of articles on M. to F. S.R.S. techniques for the assignment of inappropriately gendered
persons to their correct gender.
A series of articles on M. to F. S.R.S. techniques for the assignment of inappropriately gendered
persons to their correct gender.
(Ed. note: As Danni points out in her introduction she is NOT a medical doctor with specialized training in this area, but rather a scientist who is writing these articles to illuminate and inform)
Hi, I'm Danni.
Before I get into the "cut and thrust" (excuse the pun), of surgical techniques I feel that I should tell you a little about myself and why I have decided, with Cindy's encouragement and approval, to write this series of articles.
I am at an interesting crossroads in my life, I'm a little over forxxxxx....... years old and have been cross-dressing since the age of about five. I have spent the majority of my life, as most of you have, feeling trapped in a body which does'nt fit my mind. I've tried to force myself to be male, even grew a beard once, but it always comes back to that consuming desire to be female. I am finally single again, have no ties to speak of, and am now contemplating, in a very serious way, gender reassignment.
I am a scientist with degrees in engineering and physics and have always approached problems in a scientific manner. That's just what I intend doing with this one, research all the options, form a logical conclusion and take positive action. These articles are the result of my ongoing research into S.R.S., my ultimate goal.
You will all appreciate that I am not a surgeon, general practitioner, or anything to do with the medical profession, these articles are based purely on literary research and personal communication with local surgeons who perform S.R.S., and are for guidance only. I have not, as yet, had any surgery and can not offer any personal experience of any of the available techniques. Remember what is satisfactory for one person may well be unsatisfactory for another, I hope, with these articles, to provide an unbiased, laywoman's view of what techniques are available to members of our special community.
I apologise to all the boys who read this page, I have not, for obvious reasons, compiled any information detailing F. to M. techniques.
My main reason for writing these articles is that I feel that the more informed we are the more we can influence, within the realms of physical possibility, future surgical techniques. We are becoming a voice within the community at large, mainly through the good work of people like Cindy Martin and all the other girls and groups who devote their time and energy to the community, and are presenting our case to the world. It is time WE had a say in how we want our inappropriate bodies changed. Its certainly a "conundrum", what an appropriate word Jan Morris used, on one hand we all desire passionately to have our bodies changed yet this passion (plus our financial circumstances), sometimes forces us to make decisions, that in retrospect are driven by desire or fantasy rather than logic. Its time we stopped being grateful for the crumbs thrown to us by the Gender Clinics ( Do you know of one gender clinic owned by a transgendered individual or group?) and said, in no uncertain terms, just what WE want.
Speaking personally; I want a functioning vagina, as close as possible to the real thing.. I want to orgasm. I want to urinate sitting down. I want to be treated with respect and compassion, as befits a person who has been living a lie for forty years. I don't want to be treated as a dog begging for food or a freak. I appreciate that I will always have a body that is, to some people looked upon as artificial, a compromise between my feelings and reality, but I want the best that can be achieved and I am prepared to pay whatever it takes in time, money and effort in order to achieve these aims.
Stand up for your rights girls, don't accept the fifties solution, castration, penectomy and dumb, smiling acceptance. Never forget that you are employing the endocrinologist, the psyciatrist and the surgeon!
If we are to believe the survey of van Noort, Phillippe and Nicolai, carried out in the Netherlands, there are 1 in 18,000 of the population that are living in an inappropriate body (this equates to some 10,000 persons in Australia alone out of a population of 17,000,000; and Australia has ONE real gender clinic and 3 surgeons). If we extrapolate these data over the global population we are a FORCE to be reckoned with.
We must work together as a community and let our voice be heard!
All S.R.S techniques strive towards a similar goal, the transformation of the genitalia of one gender to that of another by surgery. All reputable surgeons will work within the guidelines stated in the Standards of Care documentation. There are however a number of methodologies which are employed in order to achieve this purpose. These techniques differ considerably in just how the genitalia are modified in order to achieve the desired effect.
There are a number of common procedures which all surgeons employ:
At this point the various surgical techniques diverge, for although they are all trying to achieve the same basic objective, each surgeon uses a different procedure and different parts of the genitalia to achieve "what they believe" to be a satisfactory end result.
The earliest method utilized in the conversion of inappropriately gendered persons to their correct gender. This method was developed for the treatment of aplasia vaginae, in females suffering from congenital absence or deformity of the vagina (Mayer-Rokitanski-Kuster Syndrome). It was considered appropriate for use on transgendered M. to F. girls. In this technique, the vagina is lined with a split-thickness skin graft. The best that they could think of at the time, I guess. There was, as seems to be apparent today, little thought given to the sensorial functionality of the neovagina, just its external morphology.
The same problems would seem to be apparent as for the McIndoe technique.
A methodology currently employed by many S.R.S. surgeons. This technique will be discussed in detail in a future article.
Currently employed by S.R.S. surgeons. This technique involve the resection of a portion of the sigmoid colon which is used to line the neovagina. This technique is normally, though not always, reserved for cases of failure of the primary construction. This technique will be discussed in detail in a future article.
I can find no information on the current use of such organs as amniotic membrane, dura matter cerebri, peritoneum etc. when constructing a neovagina in girls who have the incorrect physical morphology for their real gender.
The most commonly employed current technique. This technique will be discussed in detail in a future article.
In the next few weeks I'll be providing details of the three most common techniques, ie. rectosigmoid, penile and scrotal skin inversion and penile inversion. Each method will be illustrated by line drawings showing the operative technique ( at least thats the intention, hope the scanner works O.K.) and will concentrate on the basics of the method only. Further article(s) will delve into the mysteries of such things as clitoroplasty, the creation of a pseudocervix, vaginal lubrication, cosmetic surgery and "published" statistics on satisfaction ratings. I hope that this "real" information may help any girl contemplating S.R.S.. to make the right decision.
Hugs to all,
Danni
