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| HBIGDA STANDARDS OF CARE - 2001 (version 6) |
SECTIONS |
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XI. Breast
Surgery
Breast
augmentation and removal are common operations, easily obtainable by the
general public for a variety of indications. Reasons for these
operations range from cosmetic indications to cancer. Although breast
appearance is definitely important as a secondary sex characteristic,
breast size or presence are not involved in the legal definitions of sex
and gender and are not important for reproduction. The performance of
breast operations should be considered with the same reservations as
beginning hormonal therapy. Both produce relatively irreversible changes
to the body.
The
approach to male-to-female patients is different than for female-to-male
patients. For female-to-male patients, a mastectomy procedure is usually
the first surgery preformed for success in gender presentation as a man;
and for some patients it is the only surgery undertaken. When the amount
of breast tissue removed requires skin removal, a scar will result and
the patient should be so informed. Female-to-male patients may have
surgery at the same time they begin hormones. For male-to-female
patients, augmentation mammoplasty may be performed if the physician
prescribing hormones and the surgeon have documented that breast
enlargement after undergoing hormone treatment for 18 months is not
sufficient for comfort in the social gender role.
| Some
of the resources in this section contain differing viewpoints comprising
a variety of authors, committees, and interest groups. Additionally,
some of these materials are delivered in an advisory context, covering
legal, ethical, medical and social issues. These materials do not
necessarily represent the guidelines of TransGenderCare or
the philosophies of our staff. |
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