Bariatric Surgery and Being Transgender
Hello!
So, I am preparing to have surgery with the Bariatric Centre of the Rockies at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. I'm 2/3rds of the way through the mandatory medical weight loss classes and have been to the required patient education seminar. I've talked with my therapist and she is ready and willing to give me my psych clearance (though, we can't do that yet because of insurance requirements).
Being obese has made me very self-conscious and has aggravated my gender dysphoria. I'm hoping that losing weight will help to alleviate this issue. However, I'm worried that with the weight loss, it'll be more difficult to "pass" and that I'll need to prepare to have facial feminization surgery and breast augmentation as I get close to my goal weight.
What do you think? Are there any transgender patients here?
Hi there
While not transgender myself I do know of someone who had VSG and can only speak to my experience with them. The weight loss came quite quickly but she struggled with including exercise as any strength training seemed to bulk her up quicker than other women who had undergone VSG. So she stuck with cardio (we did les mills attack or zumba - this was approx 5 yrs ago).
Hormones went out of whack too, although I think she was already taking estrogen etc prior to VSG and there was a need for some adjustment over the initial weight loss period. I remember her complaining that although hair on her head was thinning (a common side effect many ppl incl myself experience) other places were more hairy after the Op. I don't think she looked noticeably more masculine if anything the weight loss accentuated her face/cheekbones and collarbone. She is a whizz with make up anyways.
I'm not sure if your plan is to fully transition and what that might mean for your overall look after WLS. I know that they have no regrets and it helped her self confidence immensely. Hope this helps some?
All the best.
