Orchiectomy in Brazil

[luizamercantez]

Hello, I'm really interested in getting a Bilateral Orchiectomy. I live in São Paulo, Brazil.

I've send a thousand of emails and made a thousand of google searches for Brazilian Urologists but the only doctor who answered said that it was going to cost me R$ 14.000,00 (US$ ~8.000,00)

I find it way too expensive... do anyone knows any Brazilian doctor who can do this surgery for a regular price?

Thanks.

[Bird]

Why don't you enroll in one of the transgender care programs via the healthcare system (SUS) ? You can get SRS with that, if money is limiting.

[luizamercantez]

Why don't you enroll in one of the transgender care programs via the healthcare system (SUS) ? You can get SRS with that, if money is limiting.

Thank you, my endocrinologist already told me that but the hospital that provides this program (Hospital das Clínicas) is 353 kilometers away from me, it's really burocratic, it takes a lot of years of consults to get the surgery and one specific clinic alerted me that the surgery is done by unexperienced doctors so the neovagina may look like a mutilation... ;/

[Bird]

I know very well what the rocks in the path are. I am wary of going that route to, but if I didn't have enough money to afford it, I would. Sadly, here in Brazil there ins't a single experienced surgeon for SRS, really. I don't know about orchies, but I believe in our case, the same applies.

Who is your endo btw?

[luizamercantez]

I know very well what the rocks in the path are. I am wary of going that route to, but if I didn't have enough money to afford it, I would. Sadly, here in Brazil there ins't a single experienced surgeon for SRS, really. I don't know about orchies, but I believe in our case, the same applies.

Who is your endo btw?

Sadly yes, I was thinking about doing my SRS with Dr. Jalma Jurado but it costs almost R$ 30.000,00. Way too expensive for me, since I don't have a "sex life" (so I won't care about how my genitals gonna look like) I was thinking about getting the orchiectomy to stop the anti-androgens and protect my liver but I can't find a doctor, God, the procedure is so simple! ):

Well, today I've done some research and I found some interesting stuff in a FtM website:
http://www.ftmbrasil.org/p/sugestoes-de-clinicas-e-profissionais.html

I've emailed every single clinic and doctor I could, now I'm gonna wait, sadly most of 'em never answer me...

My endo is Dr Beatriz Molinari

BTW: I'm interested in getting a breast augmentation surgery too, so... If you know some nice clinic or doctor =)

[luizamercantez]

A doctor from Rio de Janeiro told me that there's a procedure that causes testicular atrophy without cutting the scrotum.

Have you guys ever heard about it?

Update: Apparently, he uses a "Burdizzo" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdizzo

Scientific article: http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:12031390
Apparently, it's not effective as a Bilateral Orchiectomy: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1677-55382011000300008&script=sci_arttext

"The burdizzo has also been used by some transsexual women as an alternative to the surgical procedure known as an orchidectomy. Because an incision is not required, castration by burdizzo is usually bloodless and, according to some research, has a lower risk of infection, compared with traditional methods. However, because the burdizzo was not originally designed for human use, and because fairly little research has been done on burdizzo castrations in humans, many physicians and others do not consider the burdizzo to be a safe castration method for humans. "

Have you guys ever heard about someone that have a castration done that way? The surgeon I'm talking to is a renowned doctor.

[Jamie D]

A doctor from Rio de Janeiro told me that there's a procedure that causes testicular atrophy without cutting the scrotum.

Have you guys ever heard about it?

Update: Apparently, he uses a "Burdizzo" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdizzo

Scientific article: http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:12031390
Apparently, it's not effective as a Bilateral Orchiectomy: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1677-55382011000300008&script=sci_arttext

"The burdizzo has also been used by some transsexual women as an alternative to the surgical procedure known as an orchidectomy. Because an incision is not required, castration by burdizzo is usually bloodless and, according to some research, has a lower risk of infection, compared with traditional methods. However, because the burdizzo was not originally designed for human use, and because fairly little research has been done on burdizzo castrations in humans, many physicians and others do not consider the burdizzo to be a safe castration method for humans. "

Have you guys ever heard about someone that have a castration done that way? The surgeon I'm talking to is a renowned doctor.

My understanding is that it is incredibly painful.

[dalebert]

I really don't think you should consider anything other than surgery by a qualified surgeon for something like this. It's incredibly dangerous.

Can't a burdizzo be a danger to the scrotum and if you some day may pursue SRS, don't they use the scrotum to construct the new sex organs?

[Bird]

The scrotal skin yes, though the method seens to aim the gonads.

Anyway it has not been tested in humans and thusly is unsafe for us. Any responsible doctor would not do it.

[luizamercantez]

The scrotal skin yes, though the method seens to aim the gonads.

Anyway it has not been tested in humans and thusly is unsafe for us. Any responsible doctor would not do it.

Actually, It was tested in humans, check out the links I've posted.

I really don't think you should consider anything other than surgery by a qualified surgeon for something like this. It's incredibly dangerous.

Can't a burdizzo be a danger to the scrotum and if you some day may pursue SRS, don't they use the scrotum to construct the new sex organs?

He is a qualified surgeon.

The scrotum is not affected in this procedure since there's no cuts, It'll be fine for a future SRS

Anyway, I'm still trying to contact him to get more information but I don't think I'm gonna do it, it's not effective to reduce the testosterone as a Bilateral Orchiectomy.

BTW: While I was searching for information about this burdizzo thing, I've found some weirdos that injects alcohol in their own gonads and cut their own penises with knifes... I mean, what the hell? http://tribes.tribe.net/fascinatedbytesticles

[Bird]

No, it has not been tested. He says he did the method in a single patient and no larger scale study has it. If you did it, you'd be paying to do a procedure that is at best experimental and not approved for humans, hence why it is not ethical from the doctor. He is selling a one hit wonder in a attempt to set himself above the rest of the profession, IF he is doing this out of a research environment.

If he was conducting a study to compare surgical methods, it would be a different matter and you could enroll in it. With this said, there is nothing wrong about him writting articles about the procedure.

I'm saying these things because I think this is unsafe for you, that is all.

[luizamercantez]

No, it has not been tested. He says he did the method in a single patient and no larger scale study has it. If you did it, you'd be paying to do a procedure that is at best experimental and not approved for humans, hence why it is not ethical from the doctor. He is selling a one hit wonder in a attempt to set himself above the rest of the profession, IF he is doing this out of a research environment.

If he was conducting a study to compare surgical methods, it would be a different matter and you could enroll in it. With this said, there is nothing wrong about him writting articles about the procedure.

I'm saying these things because I think this is unsafe for you, that is all.

It was not a single patient (http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1677-55382011000300008&script=sci_arttext) but I see your point and I agree with you.

That's why I came here to ask about this stuff, I thought "omg, it's too good to be true :O" and yea... It's not REALLY tested and I'm not going to do it.

Anyway, here's what the doc said

"The procedure is performed under local anesthesia, an instrument is used to perform a pressure on the vessels and nerves connected to the testicles. The testicles will atrophy and stops producing testosterone."

The particular instrument is "probably" a burdizzo.

[dalebert]

That's what it sounds like. BTW, I was temporarily confused and getting a burdizzo mixed up with the super-tight rubber bands they use to castrate some animals.

[luizamercantez]

nope, it looks like a plier