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Sex Change Surgery
Phalloplasty
MTF
FTM
SRS
Gender Reassignment
Gynecomastia
Male to Female (MTF) Gender
Reassignment Surgery (GRS)
Female to Male (FTM) Sexual
Reassignment Surgery (SRS)
Orchiectomy
Labiaplasty (Labia Minora Reduction)
Breast Augmentation
Male Chest Reconstruction

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 Deposits and Refunds:
To secure a surgical date and preserve a fee commitment, a 50% non-refundable deposit is required.

In the event of cancellation within a week before surgery, $1000 may be retained by this office and the balance of your deposit will be applied to a rescheduled date.

Sex Change Operation - Sex Change Surgery
Dr. Harold Reed

Dr. Harold Reed is a Diplomate of the American Board of Urology, a Senior Member of the American Urological Association (having attended 35 consecutive annual meetings), a member of the Society of Genito-Urinary Reconstructive Surgeons, the American Academy of Phalloplasty Surgeons (treasurer),  the Sexual Medicine Society of North America, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, International College of Surgeons, and in 1986 had satisfied admission requirements of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons and was made a Fellow.

His extensive knowledge of tissue handling is derived from 35 years of clinical urological experience. He completed undergraduate work at the University of Rochester. Given a full medical scholarship by New York State Regents for his scholastic achievement, he graduated from Upstate Medical Center. He was selected by Cornell for internship at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Following 2 years of military duty as a squadron surgeon in the US Army, he entered urological residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and graduated as chief resident in 1973.

Dr. Reed's recent case review on Vaginoplasty appears in Seminars in Plastic Surgery (Vol 25, No. 2, pp 163-174 May 2011).  Other articles are published in Annals of Plastic Surgery and American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery. 

He has participated in every biannual meeting of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (formerly Harry Benjamin) including Atlanta 2011 (co-meeting with Southern Comfort),  Oslo, Norway (2009), Chicago, IL, (2007), Ghent, Belgium (2005), Bologna, Italy (2003). He has attended every annual meeting of the American Urological Association since 1971.

Dr. Reed has published articles both in the Annals of Plastic Surgery and American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery. He was privileged to have 2 operative videos selected for viewing by the American Urological Association during the same year. He has appeared as a guest on the Maury Povich show, CNN Sonya Live, CBS Morning News, Jenny Jones Show, Christina and with Howard Stern. His work has received mention in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Men's Health, Penthouse and Playboy. He has been a guest on 3 out of 4 national British TV channels including BBC, Granada, and Tyne-Tees.

He recently participated in an international transgender symposium in Trieste, Italy.

The Reed Centre for Genital Surgery -
Sex Change Surgery, Harold M. Reed, M.D.

A. Metoidioplasty or Metaidoioplasty (phallic clitoral enlargement, stand to void) - Sex Change Surgery
The procedure confers the advantage of minimal surgery with preservation of natural sensation and erectile function.  Donor site forearm scars avoided. Overweight patients may achieve greater length with pubic lipectomy which will recess the body surface line.

In this sex change procedure the clitoral hood is lifted and the suspensory ligament of the clitoris is detached from the pubic bone, allowing the clitoris to extend out further.  When the female tissues have been primed with testosterone, the clitoral head may resemble an adolescent glans penis.  An embryonic urethral plate must be teased away from the underside of the clitoris to permit outward extension and a visible erection.

For those patients who desire to void standing after this sex change proceedure, the urethra is extended into the neo-penis. This may be accomplished simultaneously or performed secondarily using either a vaginal flap or buccal mucosal graft.

Please understand in that metoidioplasty (sex change surgery) involves a fair amount of tissue transfer, some degree of post-operative swelling is expected.  Complications may include but are not limited to less than anticipated length, torquing of the clitoris (usually amenable to release), loss of sensation, tissue necrosis, localized infection, persistent tenderness or hypersensitivity, transient or permanent narrowing of the vaginal opening which may render the vagina incapable of penile penetration, urethral narrowing, urethral obstruction, and urethral fistula (leakage of urine anywhere along the pathway of urethral extension).  Between the first and second stages leading to urethral extension, voiding patterns and trajectory may be forwards or backwards and may splash wetting perineal, labial and vaginal skin.

B. Penile Implantation for the Neo-Phallus patient.
A penile prosthesis confers the wherewithal to penetrate which may be the defining moment for a successful conclusion to gender reassignment surgery.  Clearly the intimacy of complete sexual contact is sought equally by patients and their partners.

C. Insertion of Testicular Implants into Labia.
This should be performed as a procedure unto itself or with urethral extension to minimize complications.  To prepare the labia majora for implantation, a tissue expander may be employed for a few months.  This also creates a more pleasing scrotal appearance.

Labiaplasty - (Labia Minora Reduction)
Labiaplasty is offered to women with excessive, redundant labia who suffer from unsightly contour lines and physical discomfort.  Such women report pinching or chafing when sitting or walking, hindrance during intromission, and difficulty maintaining hygiene during menses or after defecation.

Overly pigmented and unattractive labia can be reduced with a V-plasty technique that converges freshened margins in a neat concealable line.  Delicate, minimally reactive, self absorbing plastic surgery suture is employed.

Pre--operative expectations are discussed in a relaxed environment.  Reassurance regarding normal variation is provided.  Areas of intended excision are delineated for patient approval with hand held mirror.

Surgery can be performed on an outpatient basis.  Sexual activity may be resumed in 6 weeks.  Excessive clitoral hood tissue may also be trimmed during this procedure as requested and is covered by our comprehensive fee.

Breast Augmentation
Breasts are universally recognized as a symbol of nourishment, love, femininity and sexuality. Breast augmentation is the second most popular cosmetic procedure performed (following liposuction), about 254,000 cases per year in the United States.

Breast prostheses applicable for standard implantation are typically saline filled and those for reconstructive surgery may be cohesive silicone gel filled.  Cohesive gel implants when cut on the laboratory bench maintain their shape and do not leak.  Perhaps in a few years cohesive gel implants could be used without restriction.

Prostheses come in difference profiles and some are anatomical in shape, i.e. tear dropped, being fuller in the lower pole.

The average expectancy of a saline filled breast prosthesis is about 16 years.  However the likelihood that revisionary surgery will be performed within 5 years is about 25% across the board.  The most common reasons for implant replacement are for request of size change 37%, leakage or rupture 24%, capsular contracture 18%.

Compare this with a 3% incidence of re operation in Dr. John Tebbetts series involving about 1662 patients with a 7 year followup.  Careful matching of the implant to the unique anatomical features of the patient explains this.

Generally I subscribe to the Tebbetts formula for appropriate size.  Oversizing creates many problems including early drooping (pendulous weight effect) and "double bubble."  A distortion when the base of the implant below is seen distinctly from the base of the natural breast, above, which is of lesser circumference.

Breasts as they occur naturally are not perfectly symmetrical, "sisters not twins."  Some balance can be achieved by differential filling and placement.  Cleavage does not occur naturally and attempts to place implants so close as to achieve this may result in synmastia, the touching of one breast prosthesis against another.

The subpectoral approach is desired especially when pinched skin thickness is narrow in the upper pole (that breast tissue above the areola).  This provides greater coverage of the implant.  However, an implant is seldom entirely covered by the pectoralis muscle and is really bi-planar, partially sub-glandular in the lower outer quadrant where the pectoralis muscle is absent.

Athletes should avoid a subpectoral approach as it might impede pulling.

The two most popular in incisions are inframammary and periareolar.  Other procedures include transaxillary (through the arm pit) or transumbilical.

The early detection of breast tumors may be slightly enhanced with prostheses although there may be some technical problems with compression during mammography.

Scarring can be minimized by taping over the incisional area for 3 months.

Massaging post implantation may reduce capsular contracture which can occur in 8 percent of patients, but can also result in some migration secondary to broadening of the pocket.

Anticipate a variable degree of pain for 3 or 4 days, associated with tissue stretching.

With respect to the ability to successfully breast feed after breast implantation, one study reported up to 64% of women with implants who were unable to breast feed compared to 7% without implants.  The periareolar incision site may significantly reduce the ability to successfully breast feed.

Male Chest Reconstruction
Male Chest Reconstruction usually precedes below the waist surgery for FTM patients as protruding breast contours are a sin quo non of the female presentation.

While for very small breasts a peri-areolar skin excision can be performed, the problem of maintaining an adequate pedicle to support the nipple areolar complex without protrusion of the pedicle through the skin becomes challenging. Bringing skin into the borders of a contracted areola will cause puckering which hopefully with time will smooth out.  A permanent fixation suture is often required to prevent tension on the suture line from causing a slowly expanding scar.

A transverse inframammary incision with free nipple areolar grafts is my preferred approach. If there is too much blousing of the skin, the alternatives are to extend the incision laterally (chasing a dog ear) or to make a vertical midline incision (inverted T).

The areola is trimmed to a pre agreed upon diameter and the nipple sectioned with a pie shaped excision and reconstituted.

Although the patient must be cautioned there may be varying sensory loss because of nerve disruption, our limited experience has been favorable in this regard as distal nerves are known to regenerate.

Nipple areolar grafts must be kept wet with saline soaked gauze re-moistened every 3 hours for at least 5 days to maintain tissue viability until capillary buds grow into the graft.

Plan on having a roommate or spouse do this for you throughout the night.

Some crusting of the grafts is not unusual and will usually shed by the 3 or 4th week.  By all means do not lift or pick them off as the adherence of the graft may be very tenuous and its viability very fragile.

After tissue settling some revision surgery may be required and is usually done for a nominal fee relating only to use of the facility and anesthetic services if required (as opposed to being done under local).

Breast sizes greater than a C, need to be done in hospital setting.

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