Congress Paper Abstract

Factors which influence consumers’ decision regarding female-to-male genital reconstructive surgery

Katherine Rachlin, Ph.D 

Email: Dr Kitten@aol.com

This research attempted to explore the decision making process in people who had considered female-to-male genital reconstructive surgery (GRS). Results indicated that in adults the attitudes and decisions concerning altering sex characteristics were multi-determined and that such wishes and actions had to do not only with gender identity but with available resources, technology and individual life circumstances.

Subjects were 20 people between the ages of 21 and 50 who had been born and socialized as female and had considered having GRS to make their genitals appear masculine and more congruent with some aspect of their gender identity. Subjects were recruited from people who had attended a support group for female-to-male (FTM) transsexuals in New York City and also from participants in a FTM Conference in San Francisco. Measures - A questionnaire was designed to explore subject demographics, what surgery subjects had or were considering, which options they had rejected and what the major factors in their decision had been.

• People rated contact with other FTM’s and information from within the FTM community as the most important factors influencing their surgical decisions. This was true regardless of age, sexual orientation, or relationship with a partner.
• Medical and mental health professionals were rated as less influential than peers.
• The majority of respondents (60%) had rejected phalloplasty and 10% rejected metoidioplasty as an acceptable surgical option. Most reported that they did so because the present technology was in some way inadequate or because of cost.
• None of the individuals in the sample rejected GRS because they were satisfied with their own body.
• Sexual preference was well distributed: 60%(n=12) preferred women as sexual partners, 30% (n=6) preferred both men and women as partners and 10% (n=2) preferred men.

Discussion - Subjects varied in age, length of time in relationships and surgical decisions. They all had in common some degree of GID and contact with the FTM community. Data confirmed that contact with peers, in person or through writing, influenced their opinions and decisions regarding surgery. The impact of professional service providers may have figured small in this sample because of the access to other resources. Results illustrate that it may be important for professionals to work cooperatively with community and peer support services. Results also challenge the expectation that FTM’s will request GRS (phalloplasty in particular) and identify some of the numerous reasons why trans-men may not undergo GRS. The incidence of FTM’s who elect other options over phalloplasty, and the needs of "Non-op" or "non-phallic" men have diagnostic, medical, legal, and socio-political implications. Additional analysis of results, limitations of this sample and recommendations for future research are also discussed.

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