Well recently I have made a choice. I hate surgery like am afraid of it but If I ever actually went through transition and could have the surgery down there, I would. Recently Ive been thinking about this and it took me awhile to decide. It's the only way I would ever be sexual again due to dysphoria!

     Congrats on making this choice it may seem like a small step but it is really a big one I struggled with this as well for years this is a choice everyone must make for themselves it is part of who i wish to be deciding this helped me find some inner peace I hope you found the same

     bobbisue

It's a dream for me at the moment but I imagine as you get closer to it, it gets scary.

You are amazing for deciding this!

Before I had surgery, I asked Dr. McGinn about what I might fear. I was surprised at how few people had serious issues. Although it is major surgery, the risk of death is minute. Fistulas have happened but are not very common. There is risk of infection of course. Rather than being scared by what she said, I was actually reassured. I figure I risk as much getting on the roads each day. The idea of things going perfectly is probably not realistic. I think most people have issues that in most cases get resolved. The payoff of doing it has been immense in my life. Each person must weight the risk/reward.

It will be about 13 months before I have to make a decision about that surgery.  But the big advantages I see are being able to wear a bikini in public without having to either wear a very tight gaffe underneath or do a tape and tuck, or wear a suit that is a)thick fabric, b) wide in the crotch and c) has a printed pattern (hides the stuff better than solid colors).

Then there is being able to get naked in the gym locker room while changing for the pool.

Aside from that I see no real advantages, and my wife would very much prefer that I keep things the way they are down there.

I have an MTF friend who is an MD and she has elected not to have the surgery.  She had extensive FFS, but not below.  When I asked her why, she said, "They train us never to do unnecessary surgery."  She went on to say that she needed FFS to pass, but she had no bottom dysphoria, and could tuck it into a bikini, so she considered it unnecessary.

So, just another point of view to consider...but if you need it in order to function sexually, then it is medically necessary.  I just wanted to put things into perspective.

So CarlyMcx, you have not had any lower surgery to date, correct.  You must be very small to be able to wear a bikini with no additional help and use the women's locker room with you problem with complete confidence,

You know that's a surgery I will do someday assuming I can ever pull the money and or get insurance coverage.

Funny thing, I just had back surgery. I didn't even think of it as being major surgery but it really was. Under anesthesia, one tech watching nerve conduction on my arms and feet while the surgeon literally sticks cutting instruments inside my spinal canal. A couple of bone clips after that to take off the calcium spurs built up around damaged joints and they stitched me up. To me I didn't go into it with any fear. In hindsight I realize how serious even that surgery is.

Sounds serious josie76, was this surgery successful?