Genital Nullification

"If you, as a trans woman, are convinced that penetrative, vaginal sex is not important to you, you may consider having a modified SRS to remove your penis and testicles and create a visually pleasing vulva, including a sensate clitoris, but without an actual vaginal cavity. This is an easier surgery since the PC muscle does not need to be penetrated and a vaginal canal does not need to be constructed, eliminating concerns about scrotal electrolysis and skin grafts. Best of all, you escape the pain and hassle of dilating. You probably wonÕt find a surgeon in the U.S. who will perform this type of surgery, because it doesnÕt follow the Harry Benjamin Standards of Card, but you may be able to get it in Thailand. (IÕm still trying to find someone who has actually done this. If you have, please write me!) It is better to have no vaginal cavity at all than to have one which you do not care for properly. If you have a vagina but you do not dilate faithfully, it will shrink up; then your gynecologist will not be able to insert an ice-cold speculum to see inside, and you will have problems when you have yeast infections or anything else going wrong in there." —from How to Change Your Sex: A Lighthearted Look at the Hardest Thing You'll Ever Do", p. 168

Someone finally wrote me about this! Leslie said:

"I'm possibly interested in a streamlined female package, and did a little research, finding a web forum called What Is Gender?, on which the site administrator states:

SRS without vaginoplasty (but still with a clitoris, labia etc) is a fairly common procedure. It's often referred to as 'partial SRS' or 'cosmetic SRS' (cosmetic is a really bad way of describing it IMO). It's usually aimed at transwomen who don't see themselves as having penetrative sex or transwomen who have medical conditions that would make SRS with vaginoplasty too risky. Sadly a lot of surgeons would be wary of patients like you and I who do not want vaginoplasty simply because we don't want vaginas.

The surgeon I'm using will do genital nullification (leave you with nothing except a repositioned urethra) if the patient wishes, though I think far fewer surgeons will do that."

"I thought you might find that interesting."

I do find that interesting! I wonder if it is a U.K. thing, because the referenced physician Dr. James Bellringer is based in the U.K. The thread is from 2008 but Dr. Bellringer's practice still appears to be active. Here is some related information quoted from the referenced site:

The genital configuration that is right for me is essentially undeveloped/undifferentiated genitalia. I'm going to be reassigned to this state by an operation that's very similar to MTF type SRS but without vaginoplasty. Bellringer has been fantastic, when I first saw him in September last year we discussed all the available options from a complete nullification to MTF type SRS, though I already knew what I wanted, it was just a case of making sure he was happy to do it.
:
I was really worried about getting the psych referral. I was confident that if the psychiatrist was open minded about non-binary people that I would be fine, but that was no means a forgone conclusion...

As it turned out he had no problems with it at all. He has only ever seen patients presenting as m2f but I explained how I felt and he replied along the lines of 'so you wish to be androgynous then, or I guess asexual is more accurate?'. By jove I think he's got it! I liked that he didn't fall into the trap of assuming wanting to be anatomically asexed implies that you're asexual in the other sense.

The referral letter described me as somebody who "self-[identifies] as non-gendered and is happier to be androgynous". I'm very happy that a referral letter making this clear is sufficient to be eligible for surgery.

He had a really pleasant demeanour too, came across as an information gathering exercise, was never confrontational.

[Differrent speaker:] I'm glad it made someone happy. Because I'd like to beat him over the head with a branding iron that says "ASEXUALITY IS AN ORIENTATION NOT A CHOICE". Yeesh. Cutting it off won't kill your sexuality.

[Original speaker:] He meant anatomically asexual not sexuality asexual ... Like I said, he had no problem with me wanting to be anatomically asexed despite having a sex drive (I'm hypersexual actually, though I didn't mention that.)

[Another speaker:] Vagina is fairly useless for orgasms in most people anyway, I'd think especilly for people who don't want it to be there, clitoris is where it's at, lol

Wow, transsexuality has come a long way, and in the right direction of understanding. By the way, from the rest of the thread, "original speaker" went on to have a successful SRS. Hooray!

Lannie Rose
May 2010

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