Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm fortunate enough to find myself in a position to be able to pay for either Thai or US SRS.  I like the idea of the tried-and-tested penile inversion purveyed by the US surgeons, but part of me thinks I'm short changing myself by not putting the effort into going to Thailand and having the latest and greatest cutting-edge SRS done by the likes of Chett or Suporn.

Thoughts on this?  Is penile inversion really an ageing procedure?  Is Thai SRS really the best there is - or at least better enough than penile inversion to justify the additional complexity of the surgery and the lengthy recovery?

Or, to ask it in a simpler way, would you go Thai or US given the choice?

You could have a look here:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,193067.msg1721458.html#msg1721458


hugs

A slight variation as I am in the UK, not the US and I have penile inversion due in a few days time. I never considered the Thai surgeons because

• It is a long way away
• If anything goes wrong it is a long way back to get it fixed
• The long journey will not be comfortable and it is a significant expense
• In the UK I will get to stay in a private hospital with nurses and doctors on hand 24/7, not a "cottage"
• the recovery from penile inversion seems to be a lot faster than the Chonburi options
• I have never noticed women checking each other's vagina for that authentic look and feel. In fact most women are modest about their bodies even around other women (as opposed to men) so having it "super-realistic" is rather pointless
• P.I. is a shorter surgery and the shorter the op then the less harm it causes

All surgeons have problems at some point so I feel I would rather be close to my surgeon than halfway around the world

You should read this --> https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,98958.0.html

I think that the idea that the Thai surgeons are cutting edge/more advanced is mostly marketing. Which is not to say that they aren't sometimes the best choice - it depends on personal priorities. I cared about functionality, looks, and depth in that order, so I chose PI. Someone who wants a lot of depth is probably better off doing the non-penile-inversion method. (Though with that said, I'm not sure any of the big names do "pure" PI anymore; even the ones that say they do supplement the vaginal depth with a scrotal or other skin graft, so it's more about the percentage of skin being used than absolute.) Similarly, the Thai surgeons offer bigger inner labia than is typical from US surgeons and Brassard, so if that's something you like they'd be a better choice.

But personally, I got adequate depth plus a vulva and vagina that work beautifully and look good enough to fool a gynecologist. That's enough for me.

(You can look back through my recent posts for a link to my thorough review of Brassard, but I'm very satisfied.)

My surgery is obsolete by todays standards as it was a 1982 model penile inversion and it hasn't been battle tested. What I can tell you is that I was a very bad girl and went around 10 years without dilation. It was a case of being very busy and not thinking about it. I decided it would be a good idea to find out if I was in trouble so I got my dirty book store dilator out which is about the same size I was before surgery and check it for fit. It was slow going at first but I was able to insert the dilator 5 inches. I think the best number I ever had was around 5.5 inches so if I lost any depth, the loss was small. I also may regain that as I do more dilations. At least PI will withstand the test of time. I am sure should you decide to go this way, your surgery will be far better than mine because a close external examination would give me away but I wasn't about to wait 20 or 30 years for the surgery to evolve.