‘Labia Minora Were Turning Black’

• A new study found widespread dissatisfaction with surgical and medical outcomes after cross-sex procedures, with patients reporting blackening genitals, a genital prosthetic requiring a dozen unexpected surgeries, unwanted side effects from medications and a lingering sense of unhappiness with their new bodies. 
• “When I got the prosthesis, it did not fit properly. I had to return to the hospital several times. In total, I had to undergo 14–15 operations to fix the problem,” reported a 60-year-old patient who had undergone a host of surgeries. 
• “I hoped or thought that transitioning would make me happy. At the very beginning you think: if I transition then I am happy, but it doesn’t turn out that way,” one participant said. “It does help, but it is not going to be the sole reason for happiness.”
A new study examining transgender patients’ stressors and coping mechanisms revealed widespread unhappiness with the outcomes of various cross-sex medical procedures, along with serious complications and negative side effects from surgeries and medications.
Researchers at the Amsterdam University Medical Center and Amsterdam Public Health Institute interviewed 19 Dutch transgender patients, all of whom had undergone some cross-sex medical procedures, in a voluntary survey published Dec. 28. Numerous participants reported ongoing physical and mental health issues after medical interventions including decreased strength and libido, genitals turning black and a genital implant not fitting properly, resulting in more than a dozen follow-up surgeries.

‘Labia Minora Were Turning Black’: Sex Change Patients Reported Serious Health Problems After Surgeries, Study Finds