Jj. Hage et al., RHINOPLASTY AS PART OF GENDER-CONFIRMING SURGERY IN MALE-TRANSSEXUALS- BASIC CONSIDERATIONS AND CLINICAL-EXPERIENCE, Annals of plastic surgery, 39(3), 1997, pp. 266-271
Because psychotherapy will not change the profound incongruence betwee
n the objective biological sex and subjective gender identity experien
ced by transsexuals, hormonal and surgical treatment to change the bod
y toward the experienced gender is the only way out of this dilemma. T
o allow the male-to-female transsexual to pass as a member of this gen
der in public, rhinoplasty may be as important as genital reassignment
surgery. In this paper the surgical considerations on gender-confirmi
ng rhinoplasty are presented and discussed, From December 1985 to Janu
ary 1996, 22 male-to-female transsexuals underwent rhinoplasty at the
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Academisch Zie
kenhuis Vrije Universiteit to obtain a less masculine appearance. Alth
ough revisional surgery was performed in four patients, all were satis
fied with the final result in that they were convinced that their face
s had become more feminine, We conclude that in selected patients rhin
oplasty may help to create a feminine countenance for male-to-female t
ranssexuals.