Gender Reassignment Surgery
Orchiectomy for MTF Transsexual Women
FFS Facial Feminization Surgery
MTF Transsexual Surgeries
Hormone Replacement Therapy for Transgender Women
Female Hormone Therapy MTF Transsexuals
Breast Development in MTF Transsexuals
MTF Transsexual Breast Enlargement
Breast Augmentation MTF Transsexuals
Lactation and the Transsexual Woman
Injecting Silicone for Transsexual Women
Brazilian Hips and Buttock Enlargement
Average Body Size MTF Transgender
Male and Female Skeleton Transsexuals
Treatment of Young Transsexuals
Puberty in Adolescents MTF Transgender
Treatment of Young MTF Transsexuals
Treatment of Intersex Infants
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome
Female Physical Beauty Transgender
Transgender Female Beauty
Exercise, Fitness and Diet for Transsexual Women
Important |
Introduction
It is necessary to distinguish between intersex infants, and gender dysphoric (transsexual) children who consciously reject the gender in which they are being brought up. |
True hermaphroditism - children who have both sex's internal reproductive organs. |
Gonadal dysgenesis - children who have internal sex organs that are usually female but external genitals that may vary between normal female and normal male, with the majority female. |
Pure gonadal dysgenesis - a female child who has underdeveloped gonads, internal female reproductive organs and female external genitalia. |
Pseudohermaphroditism - children who have questionable external genitalia, but have only one gender's internal reproductive organs. |
Chromosomal Sex: Male "XY" or female "XX" genes as determined by a karyotypic study (in rare cases there are other combinations). |
Internal Sexual and Accessory Organs (Organs used for reproduction): The presence of male (testes) or female (ovaries) gonads, and male (e.g. vas deferens, ejaculatory ducts) or female (e.g. uterus, fallopian tubes) accessory organs. |
Genital Sex (Organs used in mating): In particular male (e.g. penis, scrotum) or female (vulva - clitoris, labia majora etc.) appearing external genitalia, but also internal genitalia such as the vagina. |
Hormonal Sex: Based largely upon male type androgen plasma levels, or female type oestrogen and progesterone plasma levels. |
Secondary Sexual Characteristics: Physical attributes (other than the sexual organs & genitalia) that distinguish males (e.g. beard, Adams apple) from females (e.g. breasts, fat distribution) after puberty. |
S |
Gender Role: The sexual role a person lives in, and the sex they are perceived as being by others. It has been defined as "A social status usually based on the convincing performance of femininity or masculinity". |
Sexual Identity: The sex a person identifies with and believes they actually are. |
Aristotelian sex: The role (male or female) adopted during love making. |
Legal Sex: In the UK, since the |
a pelvic ultrasound (to check for the presence of female reproductive organs); |
a genitourethrogram to look at the urethra and vagina, if present; |
a chromosomal analysis (to help determine genetic sex: usually but not always 46, XX or 46, XY); |
fertility potential of a female pseudohermaphrodite; |
size and potential for growth of a penis present in a male pseudohermaphrodite; |
ability of an internal reproductive organ to produce appropriate sex hormones for the gender; |
risk of future health conditions (i.e., cancer) that may develop in the original reproductive organs later in life; |
the actions of male or female hormones on the foetal brain; |
the parents opinion or preference. |
One study of 27 boys reassigned and raised as girls found that 3 now live as males, an unsatisfactory 11% failure rate - although the same research found that sex re-assignment was apparently successful in the vast majority of subjects. |
A study of 6 intersex woman found that all cases the results of the genital surgery they had undergone as babies left a lot to be desired, even after subsequent remedial operations the appearance of their genitals was often still judged unsatisfactory - it is indeed to be hoped that surgical techniques have now greatly improved. |
More positively, one study of 85 people ranging in age from 21 to mid-60's with various intersex conditions (including a 6 patients born with micropenis who were raised as women) showed that almost all of the patients were content with the gender in which they were raised. All but two showed a gender identity and gender role in accordance with their gender of rearing. |
Children come to know whether they are male or female before the age of two. Early surgery and, if required, sex reassignment helps both socially and psychologically to create a clear gender identity. |
It helps reassure disturbed parents who want their child to look normal. As it's often easier to construct normal looking female rather than male genitalia, this may require sex re-assignment of the child. |
If surgery is undertaken by experienced surgeons using the latest techniques then the results should be excellent in terms of vulva appearance, clitoral sensitivity, and vaginal depth. |
Some surgery can be more successful if it is done in children rather than at a later age. |
The surgery may be medically recommended, e.g. to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections, |
Early genital surgery is often for purely cosmetic reasons, it's rarely required for medical or health reasons. |
The person with ambiguous genitals should be involved in any decision to have "corrective" surgery, and should not have it imposed upon them. A significant number of intersex people, when they become adults, complain that they had their genitals restructured as a child in ways that they don't approve of. |
Historically, many assigned girls have been the victims of poor quality surgery performed by inexperienced surgeons, e.g. resulting in an unnatural looking vaginal opening, lack of clitoral sensitivity, discomfort during intercourse. |
Children who have had early surgery need to have their genitals regularly examined during childhood, which can have a profound effect on their attitude towards sex. |
The few available studies show a very high success rate for XY babies born without penis who are raised as boys, but a somewhat lower rate for those surgically reassigned and raised as girls. |
The removal of gonads, the testes or ovaries, also removes their capacity to produce hormones, which raises issues when the patient reach's their adolescent years - it's critical that they take their hormones puberty but teenage rebellion is a problem. |
The high profile publicity surrounding the "John/Joan" case, et al. |
Intersex Support Group International |
Intersex Society of North America |
UK Intersex Association |
Bodies Like Ours |
The Unkindest Cut |
Surgical Treatment of Infants with Ambiguous Genitalia: Deficiencies in the Standard of Care and Informed Consent |
"Ambiguous Sex" - or Ambivalent Medicine? |
Into the Hands of Babes |