Doctors at a private hospital in Delhi successfully performed gender reassignment surgery on a woman diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The 8-hour-long surgery was reportedly carried out with minimal blood loss.
The doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) evaluated the psychiatric condition of the patient, a 34-year-old Uttar Pradesh native, to determine her gender dysphoria. The woman was on male hormone replacement therapy since 2016 and had undergone bilateral breast removal in 2017, the SGRH doctors reportedly said.
The patient also underwent uterus, ovary and vagina removal in 2019, according to the doctors. She had male features such as beard, chest hair and male voice when she arrived for the surgery at the hospital. The only procedure left to be performed was phalloplasty, which the doctors called challenging since they fabricated the penis on the forearm.
Following this, the doctors had to implant the reconstructed penis on the patient’s genital area. According to them, joining the urethra and connecting the vessels for blood circulation in the reconstructed penis was another challenge. Furthermore, joining the nerves of the reconstructed penis with the pudendal nerve and the nerve to clitoris – an important requirement for penile implant and sexual satisfaction – was another essential step in the surgery, the doctors reportedly said.
Post-surgery, the patient’s transition from female to male was completed. According to the doctors, the patient also went on to marry a woman and also change his name to a male name.
The doctors explained that rising awareness on gender dysphoria has led to technological advancements in phalloplasty over the last decades to achieve the surgery’s primary goals such as aiding sexual penetration, protective sensation, orgasm, standing micturition and natural aesthetic.