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We’ve got such a superb surgeon on the weblog immediately, and this submit could be very particular & one thing that must be talked about extra.
Dr. Michael Safir is right here to speak to us all in regards to the surgical strategy of turning a penis right into a vagina, and a vagina right into a penis. Not solely that, he’s letting us in on how he obtained into transgender surgical procedures & why he loves it a lot.
After Dr. Safir’s podcast episode, Lauryn knew he needed to come on the weblog asap, too.
Remember to hearken to the complete podcast epsiode the place Dr. Safir discusses gender dysphoria, misconceptions about transitioning, the significance of pronouns, & the way to be extra understanding of others & their selections.
Let’s welcome Dr. Michael Safir to the weblog.
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OK – mainly, I flip vaginas into penises and switch penises into vaginas.
I didn’t all the time carry out surgical procedure for the transgender and non-binary neighborhood, however my life and schooling put me on a path to discovering what was necessary to me and the way I may greatest assist individuals as a surgeon.
I grew up in a conservative family and was taught to comply with spiritual teachings tenaciously. This included studying that solely being heterosexual and pursuing heterosexual relationships have been OK.
School and medical college have been eye-opening for me, as I met colleagues and sufferers who didn’t adhere to conventional sexuality or gender roles. I made a decision in my closing 12 months of residency to pursue superior surgical coaching in feminine and male reconstructive genital surgical procedure at the most effective facilities within the nation (UCLA and UCSF).
On the time, I used to be the one urological surgeon within the US to have carried out separate year-long fellowships in these fields. I visited Serbia, a serious transgender heart in Japanese Europe, to go to with a preeminent surgeon who carried out surgical procedure for the trans neighborhood.
For the final 5 years, I carried out completely reconstructive backside (under the waist) surgical procedure for the trans neighborhood in San Francisco, earned the designation of Surgeon of Excellence, and set my profession path in an ultra-specialized route. I just lately relocated to Los Angeles, California and joined a terrific multi-specialty transgender surgical procedure group.
It’s very easy for me to talk with the trans and non-binary neighborhood and medical practitioners who serve the neighborhood. It’s typically onerous to talk with the cis-gender neighborhood as a result of I’ve to beat, in lots of circumstances, childhood indoctrination that stops a lot of the inhabitants from sustaining an open thoughts a few neighborhood that strives for easy understanding. I’ve to count on that many individuals received’t “get it” and perceive that it could take some people extra time to develop an understanding in regards to the trans neighborhood.
The Transgender Surgical procedure Journey:
It’s the dad or mum of a kid exploring gender points who performs probably the most important position within the correct improvement of that little one. Younger kids could categorical feeling uncomfortable of their organic gender as early as 3-5 years outdated. I heard a superb assertion that I’m unable to attribute:
“Don’t be your little one’s first bully!”
That’s an aphorism for folks that extends even past trans points. Hear and search out recommendation past your home of worship. Pediatricians, psychological well being professionals, gynecologists, and plenty of main care physicians serve an unbelievable position in serving to people categorical themselves with out essentially being herded into present process gender affirming procedures.
By the point they see me as a “backside surgeon,” most sufferers have undergone their “prime” (breast) surgical procedure and a few have undergone facial feminization or masculinization. Nearly all have been on hormones for years and most “current” (bodily categorical) reverse their organic gender.
Sufferers search me out towards the tip of their surgical journey and affirm their want to have their bodily physique congruent with their self-identified gender. All sufferers have letters of assist from two psychological well being professionals and their hormone supplier.
Making a penis & vagina:
Backside surgical procedure is extraordinarily advanced and has been described because the “Tremendous Bowl” of reconstructive surgical procedure. Creating a sensible penis with sensation and blood move requires two surgical groups, transferring a rolled pores and skin/fats donor website (arm or thigh) to the realm the place a cis-gender penis would ordinarily reside. A scrotum is created, the earlier genitalia (vulva and vagina) are eliminated, and a urethra (urinary channel) is created to deliver urine move all the way in which to the tip of the brand new penis. Much less advanced surgical procedure could also be accomplished by constructing a penis and scrotum utilizing adjoining pores and skin – this process is known as a metoidioplasty.
Conversely, a vagina could be created through the use of inverted penile and scrotal pores and skin and fashioning the pores and skin of the brand new vulva to approximate the looks of the labia. After surgical procedure, sufferers could search out different procedures sooner or later to permit extra purposeful use of the newly created genitalia.
Submit-Surgical procedure:
Sure, just about all sufferers have sensation after surgical procedure – there are small nerves that we discover with particular eyeglasses after which join utilizing a microscope and suture finer than hair.
We all know how necessary sexuality is to our sufferers and supply cheap expectations to them preoperatively to assist them plan for his or her sexual life after surgical procedure. Sufferers who bear gender affirming surgical procedure solely very hardly ever categorical any remorse of their bodily transformation.
I’ve but to be requested to reverse or undo any gender affirming surgical procedure so {that a} affected person can have genitalia that appears like their pre-operative anatomy.
This stays an interesting area for me, and I’m energized by my great sufferers who belief their our bodies and lives to me. I study from each affected person, not merely the way to enhance the operation, however to grasp the challenges they and their family members’ expertise.
I’m providing backside surgical procedure for transgender and non-binary sufferers within the Los Angeles and Ventura County. I could be reached at www.drsafir.com, or by way of Instagram at @msafirmd.
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As talked about, make sure to hearken to the complete podcast episode the place Dr. Safir actually will get into it.
x, The Skinny Confidential group.
+ take a look at the prime classes Lauryn has realized from being podcast host.
++ stalk this submit on feminine empowerment from Tiffany Hendra.
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