Do phalloplasties actually work?

It’s so strange. Surely real sexual attraction has to be focused on the genitals? Genuinely mutually enjoyable sex surely must involve appreciation of and delight in one’s partner’s sexed body. The marriage ceremony used to include “with my body I thee worship” and I always thought that was rather lovely. I’m heterosexual and if I really like someone I definitely like their penis. It’s wonderful, complex, and so arousing when erect. It’s also very much part of their body. I imagine that the same sort of thing happens for same-sex attracted people.
It makes me think that those who feel that some sort of simulacrum of genital organs is adequate are experiencing a rather different version of sexual attraction, though in what way I can’t understand.

Trans identified females who have health impacts from this surgery are reluctant to talk about it because they get shunned by others in their “community” if they speak up.

that’s the opposite of kind.

Quite. We literally have lost the moral high ground on this.

I'd imagine the OP wanted others to be informed about these horrific procedures. What I don't understand is why that should be a problem.

OP, can I ask what made you decide to ask this question on Mumsnet? Would it not have been better to ask a forum where there are likely to be some actual trans men who might have lived experience in the area? What kind of answers were you hoping for by posting the question on a forum that is known for being majority gender critical?

Just in case anyone isn’t clear on the full impact of a phalloplasty on the body, a requirement for the procedure is a full hysterectomy and oophorectomy (as they effectively seal up the vagina, sometimes also removing the vaginal canal).

These procedures are mostly carried out on girls from 18 and in their twenties (when the brain is still maturing) and a high proportion have autism or display undiagnosed autistic traits. As soon as the self diagnosis of ‘trans’ takes place, any exploration of the mental health issues causing that feeling is stopped.

In fact the government, pushed hard by Stonewall are trying to make such exploration to find alternative solutions to the distress illegal. This is the ‘affirmation only’ model as practised by gender clinics.

The NHS will not sterilise or perform medical hysterectomy on women under 30 except in immediately life threatening circumstances. Why do the NHS offer phalloplasty (with hysterectomy etc) to girls 18+? Their lives are not immediately in danger - they need mental health assistance.

A man can never be a woman
A woman can never be a man

so any form of encouraging that / lying about it / saying otherwise is of course to be condemned

to go further and say that surgery can change you is an abuse scandal larger than any other we have seen in this country…

any belief about being in the wrong body sits in the mind - either through genuine body dysmorphia, or through peer and societal pressure to be something different - the barbaric mutilation of youngsters validating the distorted ideology of older more twisted people…

we should be focusing more of the NHS money and time on exploring the why and looking at his to care for the mental illnesses which are so strongly a part of this… not butchering people and lying to them…

however much a salesman persuades you to buy spoilers and body kits for your ford fiesta - it can never be a Ferrari or Skoda / Kia / Peugeot etc - we are what we were born and working to help people accept that is the only moral and ethical route forward

"If it was to pee from a phallic appendage then probably over 92% success rate." I'd be interested to see the source of the statistic. Though I suppose it depends what you mean by 'pee through a phallic appendage'. Very many develop fistulas - holes along the length so the pee comes out. Very many have episodes of retention where they can't pee AT ALL until they go to hospital and end up needing suprapubic catheters. And lots of infections, graft rejections. Using membrane from the mouth (buccal graft) to create "urethral lengthening" - then having long term mouth problems with pain, restricted mouth opening and difficulty speaking.

And some people have rigid or semi-rigid implants to allow penetrative sex, but there have been cases of these eroding through the created tip of the neophallus, so they have to be replaced.

It's such a lot of suffering and disability to cause in a previously healthy body.

As a health care professional where we have a knowledgeable colleague from a particular specialism who has posted about the difficulties facing post op patients, I can assure you that the research ( limited as it is) shows incredibly high complication rates. I believe it’s profoundly unethical to do this sort of surgery on people with the aim of transitioning as you are destroying somebody’s correcting functioning, healthy uro-genital system in favour of potentially a lifetime of urinary and sexual dysfunction, all of which can have profound consequences for individuals as well as the nhs.

I believe that people don't understand that there is a Eunuch paraphilia.

I have noticed that people don't like it pointed out that these male people see vaginas as fuck hole though.

However, those surgeries reduce a vagina to that. An orifice to fuck as that is that cavity's only role.

The important thing here is, it's a person's choice what they do or don't do with their body. You might not like it but it's not your body.

Arguable. Anorexics? Body Integrity Identity Disorder? Eunuchs?

The standard definition for a “working” vagina seems to be “fuckable”. So I expect it’s the equivalent.

Of course, sex dolls are “fuckable” (as are many surprising things, for some men) and dildos and similar accessories can be purchased on the high street, so it seems a lot of trouble to go to for possibly not very much.

Edited to say forgot to quote @TheKeatingFive

An awful lot of whataboutery on this thread by a poster to is determined to liken the whole destruction caused by phalloplasty to Botox injections.

Yes. The NHS in some areas is also providing full body electrolysis, voice ‘feminisation’ coaching, facial feminisation surgery and boob jobs for men who want to look more like women.

As far as I am aware, the NHS is not providing cosmetic surgery such as fillers, Botox, breast and buttock enlargements, but the NHS is providing this barbaric surgery (and I include 'vaginoplasty' for men in that description; what they end up with is not a vagina by any means.)

The next time you hear someone banging on about the NHS needing more money then perhaps consider what they are spending it on. Surgery is not the answer to mental health problems and it should not be provided on the NHS. The surgeons doing this are zealots and activists.

educate yourself

This really was an idiotic thing for TRA to say - people educated themselves and realised exactly how much worse transideology was than they first thought.

Great, well this thread is about the trans ones, but you're free to make a thread about other types too.

Thanks for sharing this, even though I found it very upsetting to read. The image of the huge scar on her thigh is something that will stay in my mind for a long time. Also she - a transman who has had a phalloplasty but retained her vagina writes this:

"It’s impossible to articulate and maybe even to know exactly why my vagina is integral to my power and my personhood."

I found myself yelling - it's because you're a woman! It feels so tragic. I hope she can find some peace in her life but it feels so wrong to inflict all this harm on a healthy body.

Interesting that the writer describes self as “a-sexual” and
carefully mentions every other phallo person by their race.

It’s a very “New Yorker” …

Yes. Apparently a whole dedicated hospital plus unknown number of referrals to NHS funded private hospitals. Then we’ll be paying for the inevitable lawsuits when these girls wake up and realise how badly their bodies and fertility have been destroyed. Part of the phalloplasty procedure is a hysterectomy and oophorectomy (removal of ovaries).

There is no clinical need for these procedures - it is a highly contested experimental procedure to treat a mental health condition. It is at least as bad as lobotomies were. Anyone arguing in favour of this should be ashamed.

It really isn't just skin that's removed from the arm. It's skin, deep sub-cutaneous tissue, fat, nerves and blood vessels. They try not to damage the arm muscle and tendons, but as a pp has said these can end up infected/exposed. Then they take a skin graft from the thigh to cover up the wound on the arm.

Exactly what I just finished typing. Do we define a penis purely by ability to be erect and ejaculate? To orgasm? How diminishing would that be to millions of men who cant. Then what of women's vulva, vaginas, clits?

Theatre nurse here. Never heard of it. Had to google, and that is totally barbaric. Each to their own but the word Mengale-esque. Is spot on. Absolutely brutal.

Indeed, especially when in certain NHS trusts people cannot get additional IVF treatment, or cutting edge cancer drugs or ASD/ADHD assessments!!

Aside from the fact that my DD genuinely believed for many years you could 3D print a phallus and attach it, the fact is that everyone we know of who has had mastectomies and explored/had a phalloplasty has been deeply disappointed and full of regret aftwards. I’m not talking about 1 person, I’m referencing a significant community in London/Brighton. The people promoting these ops - the activists - rarely have any actual skin in the game [literally]… they are all about inciting others to do it. Am just grateful that these Reddit threads with photos are now out there because my DD realised pretty quickly what a complete con it was and finally began rejecting being ‘trans’.