Gender Affirming Surgeries
For those patients who choose to have gender-affirming surgery, the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery can help. These procedures may also be referred to as gender reassignment or confirmation procedures. We are among the world’s leaders in this field, performing several hundred surgeries each year. We have no wait list. We will work with you to understand your goals. Then we develop personalized pre-surgery and surgery plans to meet your needs.
First, we ensure that you are healthy and have all surgery requirements in place. Our readiness team verifies your insurance and facilitates meetings with our team members. This takes place within several weeks of our first communication. If you are from outside New York City, we can usually arrange for you to see all team members over a two-day period. We can often schedule surgeries within months of the initial consultations.
We are informed by the guidelines from the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) and the Endocrine Society. Our pre-surgery process is meant to provide all necessary pre-procedure care, and to satisfy your insurance company’s requirements. Typical standards require letters of recommendations from a health care provider. Many insurance companies require you to have, one letter for facial surgery, one for chest surgery, and two for genital surgery. Letters should come from a psychologist or psychiatrist working in the field of transgender health care. Our mental health professionals within our center can work with you and write your letters.
As our patient, you will meet with multiple members of our team. Often, you start with our social worker, who helps you navigate the process. You may meet with a primary care provider and a behavioral health specialist. We try to schedule appointments so you can complete more than one step in a single visit.
At your surgical consultation, you meet your surgeon, discuss your goals, and agree on a plan for your surgery. Your surgeon discusses necessary preparations, expected outcomes, risks, and recovery process. We also answer any questions you may have.
You may have to make physical preparations for your surgical procedure. We discuss this with you during your consultation. For instance, genital surgeries often require hair removal from the area where the surgery will be done. Some procedures may involve use of a tissue expander. In some cases, your surgeon may ask you to lose weight or quit smoking to lower your risk of complications. We set your surgery date based upon the preparations required.
We perform the following types of surgical procedures:
Please note, there might be additional steps needed as you prepare for surgery.