I'm going to make a thread about metoidioplasty [at least in relation to me and what I know about it, etc]. tw for genitalia, surgery, etc.

So, many of you know, but if you don't know: when you're on testosterone hormone replacement therapy, the clitoris grows over the course of two years, on average 4-5cm. Most of this growth occurs in the first year.

Anatomically, the clitoris is analogous to the penis. They form from the same thing in fetal development, which is why it grows on testosterone. The most basic metoidioplasty is a surgical procedure that separate the clitoris from the labia and clitoral hood, often including mons

resection, which is all cosmetic stuff to raise the clitoris/penis and give it more of an appearance of a penis. It does not add length but it usually appears longer after this restructuring because it is raised up from other tissue into a more penis-like location/structure.

Some pros of this surgery are it is much easier than phalloplasty, generally requires less surgical procedures, is more likely to maintain sensation, is significantly cheaper than phallo. I'm choosing it because I don't care about having an average sized bulge, and mostly care

about sensation and feeling validated during sex. When I went for my consult, the surgeon asked questions like "do you use your vagina during sex? do you want a scrotum? do you care about standing to pee?" because this surgery can often be accompanied by other gender

affirming surgeries, like scrotoplasty (creation of a scrotum from labia), vaginectomy (removal of vagina), urethral lengthening (restructuring of the urethra through the neophallus, allowing one to stand to pee). Obviously some of these may require multiple surgeries, such as

a hysterectomy (removal of uterus), an oophorectomy (removal of ovaries), depending on what someone wants. I'm going to get the simple metoidioplasty, so it *should* just be one surgery for me. The surgeon did a quick examination of my junk and, according to her, it is

"straightforward." She thinks my surgery will be relatively easy with an easy recovery, and it is pretty low-risk. I healed well and quickly from top surgery, which she said means I will probably heal up just fine from meta. She suggests I wait for the two year mark of being on

testosterone, just because my clitoris could still grow until about then, and it could be uncomfortable/tight if I have the surgery now and it grows any significant amount, though she did say that it was up to me, and I could have it sooner if I chose to.

It's about a 3-4 hour surgery and I will have a catheter for about a week, just to keep urine off the wound. Similar to many surgeries, no heavy lifting from 4-6 weeks.

She said that many people take a few weeks to get used to the penis being so exposed for the first time ever, and many people want to go pants-less for some time (lol).

It will be a while before I get it - my two years is next July, and we are going to have a video appointment around then and schedule the surgery out from there.

I am going through Michigan Medicine Gender Comprehensive Services, and my surgeon is Dr. Miriam Hadj-Moussa in the department of urology. I really like her! She's been doing this since about 2014ish and gender affirming surgeries are one of her areas of study/interest.

Oh, I will also say: the surgeon has done a number of these and no one has ever come back to her with reduced or lost sensation in their penis. She did say that it is a possibility, because they will be operating close to nerves, but it is not expected or normal.