Transgender Surgery in Iran

Transgender Surgery:
All you need to know

If you want to know more about transgender change surgery, facial feminization surgery, the cost of FFS, and how to find the best surgeons, then you are in the right place. GOMED provides all-inclusive packages for transgender surgery at the best prices available.

What is transgender surgery?

Transgender surgery, also known as sex change surgery and sex reassignment surgery, is a surgical procedure that lets transgender people alter their sexual organs permanently and get ones that match their true gender.

With Sex change surgery, trans people can have matching genitals. Trans women undergo Male-to-female sex reassignment surgery that removes the male genitals and constructs a vagina, while trans men have metoidioplasty that involves removing the uterus and the fallopian tubes and constructing a penis.

Transgender Hormone Therapy

Transgender hormone therapy is also known as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). This therapy involves taking specific sex hormones to create secondary characteristics. This therapy will affect things like body hair, and the vocal tone of the patient.

There are two types of hormone therapy:

• Feminizing hormone therapy.
• Masculinizing hormone therapy.

Feminizing hormone therapy

This therapy is used for trans women who want to have feminine characteristics like having breasts and affect the distribution of fat and muscles in the body. It also involves using hormones to suppress the production of masculine hormones like testosterone.

Some of the effects of the therapy will be permanent such as breast development, while others will be reversible like the body hair distribution.

Masculinizing hormone therapy

This therapy is used to boost the masculine secondary attributes of trans men. The patient is given hormones to suppress the production of estrogens and raise the levels of testosterone in the body.

There are several differences caused by this masculinizing hormone therapy. Some of them are reversible like the changes in body mass, while others are permanent such as the growth of facial and body hair.

Transgender surgery cost in Iran

Sex reassignment surgery can be quite expensive. According to GOMED reports, it can cost around $25,000 to change your sex in the USA. In the United Kingdom, it costs an average of $27,000, while the cost of transgender surgery in Iran ranges from $7,000 to $9,000 for a female-to-male surgery and around $6,500 for a male-to-female surgery.

Facial Feminizing Surgery

After male-to-female sex change surgery, transgender women are left with masculine characteristics that can make them less comfortable with their true gender identity. To have an appearance that matches their true identity, a lot of them seek a surgical treatment that is called facial feminization surgery.

What is facial feminization surgery?

Facial Feminization Surgery (FFS) is a cosmetic surgery in Iran that involves modifying facial features to reduce the masculine look. The treatments can include surgeries to change the shape and size of the nose, cheeks, lips, chin, Adam’s apple, and jaw.

Facial feminization surgery can vary from one patient to another depending on how she looks and what she needs to improve. It can involve one or several procedures and involves reshaping bones and cartilage.

The goal of the treatment is to give transgender women an appearance that makes them more comfortable with their identities. However, it can be also performed on cisgender women who wish for having more feminine facial characteristics.

How is facial feminization surgery performed?

FSS surgery is personalized for each patient based on her appearance. However, there are several procedures that can be performed including:

• Brow bone reduction (Forehead contouring): Males generally have a more prominent forehead while females have a higher and smoother forehead outline. The patient may need to have a part of the bone removed and reshaped.
• Eyelid Surgery: by lifting the eyes with blepharoplasty, you can change the contour of your eyes to have a more feminine and soft appearance.
• Cheek augmentation: Females have more prominent, rounder and fuller cheeks compared to males as they have more fat concentration there. Feminine cheeks can be achieved with the use of implants, repositioning the cheekbones, and infecting fat into the cheeks.
• Nose job: Since men usually have more prominent noses, rhinoplasty is performed to reduce the size of the nose and change its angles to give a more feminine appearance.
• Lip lift: Males have longer space between the upper lip and the base of the nose. Therefore, a lot of patients may need to perform a lip lift as a part of facial feminization surgery.
• Lip augmentation: Lip augmentation with dermal fillers or with implants can give the patients a more feminine and attractive appearance.
• Reduction angleplasty: Men usually have wider and larger chins. To resolve this issue, the doctor may suggest performing “Mandibular angle reduction” to have a narrower lower jaw.
• Chin reduction: This surgery can be beneficial to reduce the prominence of the chin and achieve more balanced facial features.
• Forehead reduction: Compared to men, women have lower hairlines and smaller foreheads. Forehead reduction uses hair transplant methods to make the hairline lower.
• Hair transplant: Masculine hormones can increase the risks of hair loss resulting in a higher hairline, M-shaped hairline, and even thin hair. There are several hair transplant methods that can increase the density of the hair and reverse the effect of hair loss.

Who is a good candidate for facial feminization surgery?

Facial feminization surgery is used to help both transgender and cisgender women modify their facial characteristics and reduce their masculinity. However, to be a good candidate for FFS you need to:

• Be an adult over the age of 18,
• Have realistic expectations of the results, and
• Be in a good health state mentally and physically.

How to prepare for facial feminization surgery?

Good preparation for FFS surgery improves your chances of getting better results. To prepare for Facial feminization surgery, you will need to do the following:

• Quit smoking at least two weeks prior to the procedure.
• Stop taking hormone therapy for a couple of weeks before the surgery.
• Tell your doctor about every medicine you are taking including herbal medicines.
• Stop taking blood thinners.
• Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages at least two weeks before the surgery.

If you want to enhance your chances even further, you can prepare in the long term. This may include:

• Having a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
• Exercising regularly.
• Taking the needed supplements to avoid having any nutrient deficiency.

Facial feminization surgery recovery

There is no precise recovery period after facial feminization surgery because the FFS recovery time depends on how many and what type of procedures are used to modify the appearance of the patient.

Generally speaking, we can say that a patient needs around a month to a month and a half off work after FFS. It is necessary for the patients to avoid doing their normal routine tasks and focus on resting.

Facial feminization surgery aftercare

Proper healing after FFS surgery is vital to get good results. To promote good healing, some rules and guides need to be followed. This includes

• Avoiding going out in the sun and use good sunscreen for a few months following the surgery.
• Sleeping with your head elevated.
• Avoiding exercise or actions that increase the pressure on your face.
• Avoiding carrying heavy objects for a few weeks.
• Using cold compresses to decrease the swelling.
• Keeping your head away from the water till you remove the dressings.
• Refraining from smoking and consuming alcohol for a month or two.
• Have a soft food diet and use mouthwash if you have incisions inside the mouth.

There may be other guidelines you need to follow. Therefore, it is always best to ask the surgeon for advice and tips for FFS aftercare.

The cost of FFS surgery 

A lot of transgender women do not have FFS surgery after transgender surgery because of the high expenses. Undergoing facial feminization surgery can cost you around $60,000 in the United States of America and around $45,000 in the United Kingdom.

In Turkey, the prices are a little cheaper, as it can cost you nearly $25,000 for having FSS surgery. But if you want the best prices, you can opt for Iran where it can cost around $7,000 for facial feminization surgery.

Just keep in mind, the prices can change in all countries depending on the number of surgeries you need. Therefore, you need to contact your hospital or your medical tourism facilitator in Iran in advance asking for a consultation to have a more precise price tag.

FFS surgery risks

There are some possible risks that need to be considered when you think about facial feminization surgery. They can generally include:

• The risk of bleeding after the surgery.
• Bruising and blood building up under the skin.
• Hair loss.
• Loss of sensation in the face.
• Bad reaction to anesthesia.

Your surgeon will discuss the risks with you and weigh them against the benefits to help you decide If you should undergo the surgery or not.