Sexuality before and after gender confirming surgery

Data on the outcome of gender confirming surgery (GCS) in Italy is very scarce. In particular, little is known about sexual health after GCS compared to sexual functioning before surgery. The present study collects data of a multicentre research about surgery outcomes. Some of the centres affiliated to Osservatorio Nazionale sull’Identità di Genere cooperated in this research to gather a sample of transsexual patients who underwent GCS. Trans women (N=46) who received GCS were contacted and asked to complete some questionnaires to collect information about satisfaction about the surgery, potential complications occurred after the GCS or possible regret concerning the transition and the sexual functioning before and after the GCS. Consistently with international literature (Landén et al., 1998; Michel et al., 2002; Lawrence, 2003; 2006), our sample shows a high level of general satisfaction for the reconstructive surgery, with 71.1% of the patients reporting a high o very high level of satisfaction for surgery results. 67.4% claimed also to be satisfied or very satisfied about the sexual functioning of the neo-vagina. Levels of satisfaction appear to be not affected by post-surgery problems, although 50% of the patients report some complications after GCS. Partial regret was reported by only 3 patients. As for post-surgery sexual functioning, results show an increased level of sexual satisfaction. Sexual life was reported as a little more pleasant and a lot more pleasant by 69.5% of the sample. In spite of the limitations (sample size and the variability of the surgical procedure adopted) this study provides data on sexual functioning after GCS in a sample of Italian transpeople