Vaginoplasty
Surgical construction of a vagina. One of several bottom surgeries.
Vaginoplasty is the surgical construction of a vagina. In a trans context it is one of the procedures covered by the umbrella term bottom surgery, and it is undertaken by some trans women and transfeminine people.
It is also performed for reasons unrelated to being trans, including on intersex infants without their consent, which is the subject of long-standing objection from intersex advocates.
Several techniques exist and they differ in what they involve and what they require afterwards. Which is appropriate for any individual is a clinical question, and this is not the place for it.
What belongs here is what the word does not say. It does not tell you whether someone is a woman, which was settled before the question arose, and it is not a topic anyone owes a stranger.
For the procedure itself, a surgeon or a trans health service is the source.
A surgical term is not a description of a person
Clinical vocabulary gives intrusive questions a respectable surface, and the technical word does not make the question less personal.
Whether someone has had any procedure tells you nothing about their gender, which was not in question, and everything about what you have decided you are entitled to know.
Saying it well
Say this
- Vaginoplasty is one of several procedures.
- She had surgery last year.
- That is a clinical question, not one for here.
- Not my business, and not yours.
Not this
- Have you had a vaginoplasty?
- Is it like a real one?
- Does it work?
- Can I ask something personal?
Questions people actually ask
What is vaginoplasty?
The surgical construction of a vagina, one of the procedures covered by bottom surgery.
Is it only performed on trans people?
No. It is also performed for other reasons, including on intersex infants without consent, which intersex advocates have long objected to.
Is it appropriate to ask someone about it?
No. It is a question about their body.
Where does medical information belong?
With a surgeon or a trans health service, not with a glossary.