Patient's question:
Doctor, I really want to know what the cost of this vaginal reconstruction surgery is approximately. Can you tell me? So I can be prepared.Doctor's answer:
1. Individuals born without a vagina are physiologically female. These patients primarily experience developmental abnormalities during fetal development, leading to abnormal vaginal formation. This condition often co-occurs with uterine agenesis or hypoplasia, while ovarian development remains normal. Therefore, patients only lack a vagina but exhibit all other female developmental characteristics. Post-surgery, they can marry and engage in sexual activity, but due to the absence of a uterus, they cannot bear children. True hermaphroditism.2. True hermaphrodites possess both ovaries and testes, with mixed external genitalia that resemble neither male nor female, or predominantly resemble one sex but with poor development. One of the estrogen or androgen hormones dominates within the body, making their external appearance appear either male or female. This condition should be addressed early by removing the gonads. If there is no vagina or poor development, artificial vaginal construction can be performed.
3. Pseudohermaphrodites are often cases of testicular feminization, with underdeveloped external genitalia, an appearance resembling women, full breasts, and sometimes a blind-ending vagina but lacking internal reproductive organs such as the uterus. These patients should undergo early gonadectomy to prevent malignancy and receive estrogen supplementation to transition to female, followed by artificial vaginal construction. True hermaphrodites often identify as female and have desires to marry or seek partners, while the reconstructed artificial vagina can satisfy their sexual needs.
There are many methods for constructing artificial vaginas, mainly including free skin grafting, labial flap method, amniotic membrane transplantation, intestinal transplantation, etc.