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Gender-affirming surgery is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender. The phrase is most often associated with transgender health care and intersex medical interventions, although many such treatments are also pursued by cisgender and non-intersex individuals. It is also known as sex reassignment surgery, gender confirmation surgery, and several other names.
Professional medical organizations have established Standards of Care, which apply before someone can apply for and receive reassignment surgery, including psychological evaluation, and a period of real-life experience living in the desired gender.
Feminization surgeries are surgeries that result in anatomy that is typically gendered female, such as vaginoplasty, vulvoplasty and breast augmentation, while masculinization surgeries are those that result in anatomy that is typically gendered male, such as phalloplasty and breast reduction.
In addition to gender-affirming surgery, patients may need to follow a lifelong course of masculinizing or feminizing hormone replacement therapy.
Sweden became the first country in the world to allow transgender people to change their legal gender after "reassignment surgery" and provide free hormone treatment in 1972.[1] Singapore followed soon after in 1973, being the first in Asia.[2]