Transsexual

**Transsexual** people are people who change their appearance to more closely resemble the sex opposite to the one they had at birth. Transsexuals may be male or female. They typically take hormones and often undergo surgeries to support this process. They usually adopt a new name and may legally have their name changed.

People who go from male features to female features  are often referred to as transsexual women, or trans women. People who go from female features to male features  are often referred to as transsexual men, or trans men.

Transsexual people are also transgender, and the two words are often used as synonyms. Transgender people feel they are a different gender than the one they were assigned based on their sex. Not all transgender people change their bodies; those who do not are usually not called transsexuals.

## Ways to go from looking male to looking female

Transsexual women take artificial female hormones. They may also take drugs that stop male hormones called androgens. Taking estrogen pills makes breasts grow. It can also change where the body stores fat, so trans women get more fat in their hips and thighs like many non-transsexual women. It does not make beards go away. It does not make voices higher. Trans women may remove their facial hair so it does not grow back. This takes a long time and hurts.

Some transsexual women with low voices have surgery to raise their voices. Other transsexual women try to make their voice sound higher and more feminine without surgery. Some transsexual women also get surgery on their genitals. This is called a vaginoplasty. This is done by making a vagina from the skin of their penis, which is turned inside out. Some transsexual women also have surgery to make their faces look more feminine. Some also have surgery to make their breasts larger.

## Ways to go from looking female to looking male

Transsexual men take artificial male hormones. This will make their voices lower. Many trans men grow facial hair and more body hair. Male hormones can also stop their menstruation.

Some transsexual men have surgery. One surgery is removal of breasts (mastectomy). Some transsexual men also get surgery on their genitals. One surgery is removal of the uterus and ovaries (hysterectomy). Some may also get surgery on their outside genitals. One way takes their skin and tissue and makes it into a penis (phalloplasty). Another way takes the clitoris (which grows bigger with hormones) and puts it where the penis usually is (metoidioplasty). The place where urine comes out (urethra) can be run through the new penis. The phalloplasty looks more like a penis. A metoidioplasty has more sexual function, but it is 5 or 6 centimeters long. Some ways also make a scrotum from the labia. They may also have the vagina taken out or closed.

## Detransitioning

Some people (called _detransitioners_) who have changed their looks decide this was a mistake and return to living as their assigned sex. However, research has shown that only a small amount of people who transition return to their original sex, while the majority of people who transition report being happier living as their chosen sex.

Some people are forced to detransition because they live in places where physically transitioning is illegal. Some people detransition because of the prejudice they faced, rather than personal identity.

Some of the effects of surgery and hormones can be reversed but others are permanent.

## Other websites

- Gay and Lesbian Medical Association: Doctors who know about transsexual people.
- World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH): Doctors, lawyers, and therapists who know about transsexual people.
- Tom Waddell Clinic  A clinic that helps transsexual people.
- Hormones for transsexual people : This helps doctors learn how to give hormones to transsexual people.

## Notes

- <cite id="fn_1">Note 1: </cite> Lundstrom B, et al. “Outcome of sex reassignment surgery.” Acta Psychiat. Scandinavia. 70:289-294. 1984.
- <cite id="fn_2">Note 2: </cite> Kuiper, M and Cohen-Kettenis, P. “Sex reassignment surgery: A study of 141 Dutch transsexuals.” Archives of Sexual Behavior. 17(5):439-457. 1988.

## Infobox (medical condition (new))

- **name**: Transsexualism
- **synonyms**: Transexuality
- **caption**: A trans woman with the letters "XY sex-determination system, XY" written on her palm