SRS Pros and Cons

[brooksglass]

Good evening girls. Hope you are all okay
Just wondering please if anyone from experience can go through the pros and cons of SRS with me? Thank you

[MarieTS]

Brook, answers to your question has filled books. Let me just give you a highly condensed experience-based response.

Cons: Financial cost, Surgical recovery, Potential negative impacts from family, colleagues, friends.

Pros: Improved sense of self, Contentment, Inner peace, Physical/Emotional Compatability [The hardware and software finally match].
The dream stage is over, you're finally there!

I don't really see the cons as true cons, but merely challenges to bridge as part of the journey. Knocking them down further affirms one's commitment to doing the right thing for themselves. I also see the cons as undercover pros because if it were too easy to undergo SRS many might mistakenly undergo the op and later be filled with regret.

Lastly, as a wise doc once told me, "if you have to overly question the wisdom of it then it's probably not for you..."

[Megan G]

Pros: Improved sense of self, Contentment, Inner peace, Physical/Emotional Compatability [The hardware and software finally match].
The dream stage is over, you're finally there!."

^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^

Honestly i could not imagine going into a transition without knowing that GRS was the end goal, I knew i as a woman internally and the plumbing had to match or else i would always feel “different”. Now i don’t have to worry if i go swimming, or get intimate with a man...... Correct plumbing sure makes dating a lot easier....

And years later there are zero regrets....

[MarieTS]

Megan, as the old adage says "great minds think alike." But I want to expand on that... great hearts cry alike too. It was so rough trying to get to the finish line, yet it [srs] was always the end game and just had to happen. Acquiring the correct plumbing was essential to the transition. Yes, sister :hugs:... no regrets.

[Dorit]

I am almost two years post op and even though I am still in need of a revision I am completely delighted. Very affirming. So many "pros" of a new life with the right body and so feeling empowered as a woman. The only "con" I can think of is the painful recovery. Maybe it is like childbirth, a painful delivery but the results are such a joy!

[Nadine Spirit]

I have not had my GCS yet, I've got a few years wait for that. However I did have an orchi done last summer. Prior to that I was sure I would never want GCS. But, after waking up, and realizing the amount of pain I was in, and how my genitals were still configured I realized what it is that I really want. I made an appointment with a GCS surgeon about 6 months later. I got onto his calendar about a month later.

A few weeks after that was when my mind started getting flooded with all sorts of previously hidden memories. This scared the heck out of me and I discussed it intensely with my therapist. Specifically I discussed how it is possible for something so huge to go unrealized for so long. Her best estimation is that our brains will hide what we are not yet ready to accept. But once we accept it then often the brain will release what it decided to disguise.

Thus, I never consciously remembered that since about age five or so I have known my genitals are not currently configured properly. But for me to actually know that without a doubt GCS is in my future, I needed to have that first tiny step towards the full thing. Without having done that no other evidence would have been enough for me to personally justify going the GCS route.

Good luck in determining for yourself what the right move will be regardless of other's pros and cons.

[MarieTS]

That is just great Nadine. You must feel better having finally seen the end zone. Do you have a rough time table yet, or still more soul searching to do?

[Jeri Ann]

Unfortunately the op has not returned to read any of the heartfelt responses. If the op returns and wants to participate, she can pm me and I will reopen this thread.