An orchiectomy is the surgical removal of the testicles while the penis and scrotum are left intact. Certain methods of surgically creating a vagina utilize the penis to make a vaginal canal, while the head of the penis becomes the clitoris and the scrotum is used to create the labia. Some people just have an orchiectomy, some have an orchi some period of time before SRS, others effectively have an orchi as part of SRS, and some don’t pursue any bottom surgery. There are also methods of surgically creating a vagina while keeping the penis intact, called Penis Preserving Vaginoplasty.
I knew a lot of trans women don’t pursue bottom surgery at all.
I knew parts of the penis were used in construction of the vagina, I didn’t know there were trans women who had an orchiectomy before having a vagina constructed though, or just had an orchiectomy. Is there like, a transitional benefit to this? Idk what physical effects having your testes removed has on the rest of your body, didn’t realize there were people with just a dick and no balls.
The testicles are what produce testosterone, so removing them means no longer needing an anti-androgen, such as spironolactone. All anti-androgens have various side-effects. Also means that if you’re ever forced off of HRT for whatever reason, there’s no danger of being forcibly detransitioned by your own body (at least not nearly as much). Obviously this has it’s own draw backs as not having any sex hormone is generally a bad thing (such as osteoporosis), but a lot of trans people would rather take those risks than deal with a sex hormone that actively does them physical and mental harm. As for breaking up the surgeries if you’re going for both anyway, I think it’s either a cost thing or reducing the recovery time? I’m not entirely sure to be honest. I do know that the recovery time for an orchi is considerablly less than for full on SRS.
Description of surgery
An orchiectomy is the surgical removal of the testicles while the penis and scrotum are left intact. Certain methods of surgically creating a vagina utilize the penis to make a vaginal canal, while the head of the penis becomes the clitoris and the scrotum is used to create the labia. Some people just have an orchiectomy, some have an orchi some period of time before SRS, others effectively have an orchi as part of SRS, and some don’t pursue any bottom surgery. There are also methods of surgically creating a vagina while keeping the penis intact, called Penis Preserving Vaginoplasty.
spoiler
I knew a lot of trans women don’t pursue bottom surgery at all.
I knew parts of the penis were used in construction of the vagina, I didn’t know there were trans women who had an orchiectomy before having a vagina constructed though, or just had an orchiectomy. Is there like, a transitional benefit to this? Idk what physical effects having your testes removed has on the rest of your body, didn’t realize there were people with just a dick and no balls.
spoiler
The testicles are what produce testosterone, so removing them means no longer needing an anti-androgen, such as spironolactone. All anti-androgens have various side-effects. Also means that if you’re ever forced off of HRT for whatever reason, there’s no danger of being forcibly detransitioned by your own body (at least not nearly as much). Obviously this has it’s own draw backs as not having any sex hormone is generally a bad thing (such as osteoporosis), but a lot of trans people would rather take those risks than deal with a sex hormone that actively does them physical and mental harm. As for breaking up the surgeries if you’re going for both anyway, I think it’s either a cost thing or reducing the recovery time? I’m not entirely sure to be honest. I do know that the recovery time for an orchi is considerablly less than for full on SRS.
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