A transgender person has shared their experience after receiving an experimental new surgery that involves removing the entirety of their external genitals.
Adrian, 27, from Florida, is non-binary – meaning they do not conform to either male or female – and had the operation at a controversial gender clinic in Texas that has been dubbed ‘Frankenstein’s lab’.
It is one of a handful hospitals in the country that offer genital nullification surgery – a procedure which involves removing all external genitalia to create a smooth transition down from the stomach to the groin.
A small but hidden opening remains in order for urine to exit the body. Those born biologically female undergo a hysterectomy, which stops them menstruating.
‘I had to use a catheter the first two weeks but I am peeing normally now,’ Adrian said two months after the operation.
They describe the procedure, which cost $10,000 up front, as a ‘body modification journey’ that will transform them into a ‘non-normative human.’
Genital nullification surgery is a procedure which involves removing all external genitalia to create a smooth transition down from the stomach to the groin
Genital nullification involves removing all external genitalia, which Twitter user and musician Serena Patrick said was ‘Barbie-dolling your genitals’ (left). With a phallus-preserving vaginoplasty or vaginal-preserving phalloplasty the vaginal opening is located just underneath the base of the penis’ shaft (right)
Adrian, 27, from Florida, documented their experience of the genital removal procedure, also known as Nullo, or Eunuch procedures, on Reddit.
They said their motivation for getting the procedure, performed at the Crane Center last year, was ‘dysphoria’ – defined as a feeling of discomfort or distress suffered by those whose gender identity does not match their sex.
They opted for nullification because they could not afford a phalloplasty (surgery to construct an artificial penis) or metoidioplasty, which uses a hormonally enlarged clitoris as the body of the penis.
Adrian said they have a ‘desire to look as alienesque as possible’, also expressing an interest in the removal of their belly button.
Adrian was born a woman, and began taking testosterone hormones aged 23 in August 2020.
In 2021, they had top surgery and also completely removed their nipples. Having their nipples removed ‘also played a role in my desire for nullification,’ Adrian said.
‘I came out fully as a queer binary trans man shortly after top surgery,’ they wrote on Reddit.
In 2021, they had top surgery to remove their nipples to create a more non-binary look.
Dr Curtis Crane, a plastic surgeon from the Crane Center with a patient – it is not known what procedures the above patient received from the clinic
A less common genital procedure that Dr Crane did not detail is called penile splitting, a type of body modification that splits the penis into two separate sections at various points. It is not known if the clinic performs this
Penis splitting is done either because someone simply likes the way it looks or because they want to increase sexual pleasure. It is not known if the clinic performs this
An illustration from Healthline demonstrates whole-shaft splitting, which sees the entire penis cut into two separate parts. It is not known if the clinic performs this
For those born female, the genital nullification procedure can include removal of the vagina, vulva and clitoris. However some patients may opt to keep the clitoris to maintain sexual sensation.
Women also undergo a hysterectomy beforehand, which is an operation to remove all or part of the uterus. The procedure not only stops the menstrual cycle but also kicks the patient into an immediate menopause, where patients may have to put up with menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats for several months or even years.
Testosterone is given in an attempt to relieve symptoms such as lack of libido and weak bones, but it is only partially effective, experts told DailyMail.com.
Dr Crane said his practice is a leader in gender surgeries because of his extensive training
For men, genital nullification means removal of the penis, scrotum and testicles. The urethra is typically shortened and a hole is created so patients can still urinate.
Usually the prostate and sperm ducts remain.
Sometimes, highly sensitive penis tissue (which is often used to fashion a clitoris in a typical female-to-male gender reassignment procedure) is kept and ‘buried’ above the urethra, like a ‘hidden’ clitoris.
Patients who have the vagina fully removed as part of the surgery cannot have vaginal sex.
Some patients opt to have anal sex instead. Adrian’s procedure involved having their vaginal canal completely removed, meaning the only opening is the urethra.
Recovery from the procedure is said to take roughly nine weeks. Symptoms after the operation are mainly limited to swelling around the area.
The patient says they were able to sleep because they were prescribed the sedative Ambien.
Sexual stimulation is still possible, but it is ‘vastly reduced due to only having the clitoral nerve.’ But they said they have ‘no interest in sexual simulation.’
‘I have never orgasmed in my life and do not wish to. I have minimal sensation as I did not wish to feel “dead” down there.
‘Some relief is possible but climax is not.’
There is thought to be an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 voluntary ‘nullos’ worldwide, though the true number is unknown.
Astonishingly, two thirds never tell anyone they have no genitalia, including their families, a 2014 academic study found.
Some critics have voiced concerns that the procedure bears disturbing similarities to female genital mutilation practices – which more than 12,000 girls are still at risk of each day, usually in African and middle eastern countries as a means of suppressing female sexuality.
In some of these cases, a girl will see her vagina narrowed or even closed using stitches – although these procedures are usually performed outside of medical establishments leaving them vulnerable to a host of infections.
DailyMail.com recently revealed the extent of surgeries offered by the clinics like the Crane Center, which has come under fire for performing hundreds of unconventional genital surgeries which many experts describe as ‘dangerous.’
One of the other nonbinary procedures performed by center is known as a phallus-preserving vaginoplasty, which is performed on biological males who want to keep their penis while also adding a vagina.
A vaginal-preserving phalloplasty is the opposite – it constructs a penis for the person without surgically removing their vagina.
In people who have either of these surgeries, the vaginal opening is located just underneath the base of the penis’ shaft.
A patient in Ontario, Canada recently won public funding for their phallus-preserving vaginoplasty procedure.
Disallowing the procedure would infringe on the person’s Charter-protected right to security of the person, an Ontario court said in its ruling.
Jay Richards, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, previously told DailyMail.com: ‘Non-binary and nullification surgeries reveal the sheer madness of gender ideology.
‘It started with surgeries to make males look like females, and vice versa. But it doesn’t end there, because the ideology’s definition of “gender identity” is completely untethered from our sexed bodies.
‘It reduces the human person to a mere internal sense of gender, which has no limiting principle and so can mean anything.’
