What are the benefits for the surgery for MTF, comparing to HRT???

[ddone]

After all we don't walk naked around and for the every day life the secondary sex characteristics  play bigger role in your social life and the way people perceive us.

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

for me, it is more personal.  Not having that thing attached to me any more and looking at myself naked, with the proper genitalia, would be the end of my dysphoria.

Also, for me, having the proper genitalia, will allow me to date as I am attracted to men.

[blueconstancy]

My wife described it as a painful, permanent static inside her head that she didn't even realize was taking up so much attention/energy until it disappeared.

Obviously it is a very personal thing! But for her, you're right that she thinks her "transition" was completed years before GRS; what shape her genitalia have is something that matters only for her (and for me, insofar as I want to see her happy and able to enjoy a normal sex life).

[Emily Aster]

Same for me. My mental projection of myself is female and it's quite a shock everytime I get reminded that my body isn't. Fantasies also involve myself as a woman with a man. Kinda hard to actually do that if my body is still a man's.

[Zumbagirl]

My wife described it as a painful, permanent static inside her head that she didn't even realize was taking up so much attention/energy until it disappeared.

That's pretty accurate for me as well. With the fog of gender dysphoria gone I gained that percentage of my brain that was always wondering why I wasn't a female all day. It was a very liberating experience to be honest.

[Cindy]

I was pretty ambivalent at first but gradually the desire for SRS has opened until it is not only an option but a decision and it is now a matter of timing.

Why? I now feel so utterly female and am so accepted that it just feels foolish to look at two raisins and and a chipolata.

[Kadri]

Interesting.....I had SRS fairly early on in transition (only 14 months after going full-time) because I didn't think I'd ever have the money to pay for it again.

So there are other leftover problems that need sorting out. I still have a lot of facial hair that is white (I can get away with not shaving for two days, but no longer), a bit of a problem with my voice, and a brow ridge that demands bashing into a more feminine shape. More hormones and hard work will still be necessary if I am going to be completely passable.

Having it down there was always something I was conscious of, and I didn't really like to look down too much. I think when I get back home, its absence will give me more confidence in myself generally when dealing with other people. During my recovery from SRS I got to know people who had lived for years as women but  still had a secret in their pants that caused them all sorts of trouble and distress. Even though hormones haven't done all they can to me yet, I'm so glad to have that thing out of the way.

Another benefit of surgery that no-one has mentioned yet is ID documents. Many countries allow these to be changed only after SRS.

[kelly_aus]

Another benefit of surgery that no-one has mentioned yet is ID documents. Many countries allow these to be changed only after SRS.

Unless you live in Aus. I'm pre(non?)-op and I'm currently waiting for my passport to arrive - it will have a F for the gender marker.. I did think about going for an X just to be contrary though..

[Cindy]

Unless you live in Aus. I'm pre(non?)-op and I'm currently waiting for my passport to arrive - it will have a F for the gender marker.. I did think about going for an X just to be contrary though..

As Kelly said, not a big problem in Aus,  my passport  states my female gender, as do my driving licence, medicare (Healthcare) card and every other govn't card I have, I think. When I changed them - most in person, when asked gender I said female and the clerk marked it as female, although in most cases they didn't ask, they just marked female.

I did have one experience when getting a skin mole checked and the technician asked, very politely, do I gender mark you as female or male?  I said female; she apologised and said I thought so but I thought I'd check in case you were going FtM and I didn't want to offended you.

Fast on the foot I thought, a very cute reply!!

But yes the surgery is going to go ahead!

[aprilrain]

Im still pre-op, I'm hoping to just feel better about myself and to be able to have a more normal sex life.

As far as gender marker is concerned all my documentation already says female. In the US it's up to each state to determine how they want to approach the subject.

[Rita]

There was a point in my life where I convinced myself I would be ok with it but that part of my life is long over.

I am at a stage where having causes some stress, primarily love life stress.

Its not that I hate it so much I want to cut it off, but when I have the monetary option it is going away. And in its place something gender appropriate. 

[Nicole]

for me there was no other option.
I needed it. I was young, I wanted to have a full filling life and I knew I would always worry if I didn't do something about that.
I was so sure I could have had it a week into blockers, but waited and have never looked back

[Kadri]

Unless you live in Aus. I'm pre(non?)-op and I'm currently waiting for my passport to arrive - it will have a F for the gender marker.. I did think about going for an X just to be contrary though..

Living in Australia is one thing, being Australian is another. There are tens of thousands of New Zealanders in Australia who aren't qualified for permanent residency but can live and work in Australia (I am one of them). Fortunately New Zealand passport law finally changed in December of last year, but up until then SRS was still a requirement for those who wished to change have an F or M in their passports rather than an X (this was fairly easy to obtain).

[Kadri]

As Kelly said, not a big problem in Aus,  my passport  states my female gender, as do my driving licence, medicare (Healthcare) card and every other govn't card I have, I think. When I changed them - most in person, when asked gender I said female and the clerk marked it as female, although in most cases they didn't ask, they just marked female.

This is also interesting, they told me at Medicare (the one thing non-PR NZers are allowed to get in Australia if they can prove they live there) that I wasn't allowed to change my gender marker, because it was based on what was on my NZ birth certificate which still says I am male (but not for long). I think it just depends on who you meet on the day in the Medicare office and there is no real fixed rule.

[kelly_aus]

This is also interesting, they told me at Medicare (the one thing non-PR NZers are allowed to get in Australia if they can prove they live there) that I wasn't allowed to change my gender marker, because it was based on what was on my NZ birth certificate which still says I am male (but not for long). I think it just depends on who you meet on the day in the Medicare office and there is no real fixed rule.

I was told in person, and had it confirmed in writing, that Gender Marker corrections are able to be done on the strength of a current passport - for Aus citizens at least.. Heck, when I changed my name with Medicare, the woman helping me tried to change my gender then - the system allowed her to do it, but also requested that a copy of relevant documentation be placed on file.

[Kadri]

Yes, it was when I changed my name, that I was told that this was impossible, I asked if she could and she said no, that it all depended on the birth certificate, and that she had in fact changed one gender marker earlier in the week. Who knows what was going on there?