Genital Reconstructive Surgery (GRS)

THE majority of men who complete their transition to the point of legal recognition of male sex, never undergo genital reconstructive surgery (GRS). This is due largely in part to the exorbitant personal and financial costs of this surgery. For men, this is never a single surgery. It is always multiple surgeries.

Currently, FTM Australia is aware there are no surgeons who carry out genital reconstructive surgery in Australia. Despite this, there are men who remain personally committed to undergoing genital GRS and there are members of FTM Australia who have had obtained these surgeries.

If you are committed to having GRS, you will need to exhaustively research the methods (types and techniques for surgeries); the surgeons available around the world; and any other aspects which are important to you (such as urinary function, size, costs etc).

The decision to have GRS is not as simple as the decision to have chest reconstructive surgery. You need to determine what sort of GRS you would like. Once you choose between phalloplasty and metoidioplasty, you need to consider the number of stages, graft donor sites, and the types and sizes of implants. Cost, travel and recovery time are also considerations. This is entirely your preference and no-one else can tell you what you want.

Effectively you should draw up a ‘shopping list’ of what you would like (and what you do not want) then find the surgeon who best matches your requirements. Australia has a relatively small population and an even smaller population of men assigned female at birth. Given that surgeons undertaking GRS for men usually only specialise in one technique, it is likely that your individual ‘shopping list’ won’t be met by an Australian surgeon.

There are currently several overseas teams that accept international patients for GRS, providing that the WPATH International Standards of Care are met. These teams have been developing their technique for many years and (simply through scale) have considerable experience with performing GRS. In addition, these teams have dedicated recovery facilities for their patients.