For those who have had surgeries do you think the costs in the US are worth it? Are the US prices bloated from greedy insurance companies? Is Thailand's work subpar or is that just propaganda? I've always been told never to get surgery outside of the US but considering how screwed up our healthcare system is with Healthcare Sharks I just don't know anymore.
A good friend just got surgery in Thailand at the end of October. Her results look amazing, and sensation is coming along really well.
It's definitely an issue if you have problems after you leave. And if you need a revision you have to fly all the way back to Thailand.
Do you know which surgeon? I'm very interested in Dr. Bank at the Suporn clinic.
That's the one.
That's great. My therapist is currently trying to talk me out of going there, would you say your friend strongly recommends them? Could I ask about how safe she felt travelling and how reputable the clinic was?
Your therapist has no idea what they are talking about. Have a look here
https://www.reddit.com/r/TransSurgeriesWiki/wiki/srs/thailand#wiki_suporn_clinic
Take a look at the post op photos and read this .
Thank you so much for this. I'm going to continue to talk to him about it, and share some of these resources too. He's said he won't stop me if I'm certain it's what I want, though.
He can’t stop you. You can get letters for Thailand quite easily.
It may be necessary to compare a few things ... in Thailand are a number of surgeons and each one has specific advantages and disadvantages, and surgeons in the US too.
Basically a number of surgeons in Thailand offer full graft surgeries with scrotal skin inside. Downside can be a longer healing time and in the case of Suporn a possibly painful dynamic dilation. And with scrotal skin the inside can be more patchy and people who scar easily, like having slow scar healing, and also having pronounced scars, might think about this procedure again. And Suporn leaves a lot of erectile tissues and a few people who were well endowed reported problems.
Upside can be that people often stay longer there, around 30 days, and there can be minor revisions during that time.
And with Suporn there is often a lot of depth.
With US surgeons healing times may be shorter and some offer a peritoneal technique with self moistening tissue inside. A number of people have enough lubrication for intercourse though with all techniques. There can be a very slippery substance coming from the urethra, not holding in then might help. It can be some kind of reflex to try to hold back.
And a number of people stop HRT after SRS, or go down to menopausal levels. A neovagina reacts to estrogen like a cis vagina and if levels are in the menopausal range, there can be dryness and even some atrophy, like in menopausal people. Keeping levels of estrogen well in the female range may be an idea. A few people have some shrinkage though and for them a low dose application of t cream can help.
So in summary it may be an option to have a look at a number of surgeons ... in Thailand Suporn and Kamol might be an idea, there was a review lately about someone who went to Kamol.
And in the US surgeons like Bluebond-Lagner, Wittenberg or Avanessian may have rasonable techniques and waiting times.
I believe they felt pretty safe. They had their father with them. I don't know how reputable the clinic is. Other than the doctor studied under suporn. Their results look amazing.
Thank you so much!
That's good. I would assume you need to fly back for the revision but even with that considered wouldn't it still be cheaper in total than getting it done in the states?
I'm not sure what the costs look like. My friend choose their surgeon based on the results that they wanted.
I definitely recommend thinking about what results you want first and cost second. It's a body part that you'll have forever.
I mean that's true but I would look at both. I've seen figures ranging from like $8500-15000 for bottom in thailand compared to like $25k in the US. I would never be able to afford that.
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I've also seen many stories of Chett basically ghosting people who had any kind of problem, I wouldn't go to him tbh.
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I think that’s just a poor business decision when Suporn retired. I believe far more people return now for revisions than ever did before.
I was always told if you want surgeries likr that to be covered by insurance you're going to be paying your private insurer like $600 a month at least.
I've heard that Thai surgeons do great work, so much so, that even if the cost were exactly the same, I might prefer to have it done in Thailand for that reason alone.
However, from reading other people's stories, I would want to be positively sure that there is someone close to home I could follow up with in the event of having complications afterwards.
Yeah that's understandable. I would assume that if you had a similar surgery in the US and your surgeon wasn't available any surgeon qualified to do the job should be able to check you out. At least hypothetically.
I once read a horror story about a girl who had surgery with the esteemed Dr Chetawut. She had a complication that prevented her from dilating and her vagina closed up.
She sought help for her complication from local doctors, and no one would touch her vagina. She wrote to Chetawut's clinic, but they were unable/unwilling to assist her over the internet.
For this reason, if and when I chose to have surgery overseas, I will want to first have an arrangement with a local doctor who I can count on to provide care in the event that I experience such a complication.
That's terrible to hear. But I agree if someone chooses to do it, do it with the utmost safety.
I think my only concern with overseas would be that my doctor wouldn't be available after I left.
I mean that's a good point but I thought they had video consults for stuff like that. If I got surgery in cali the only way I would be able to get a check up from them would be over video since I live in the south.
Surgery in Thailand is only cheaper if you live in the US and don't have insurance. Plus, you're now half-way across the world in case you need revisions or after-care. I have also heard more than a few times that Thai surgeons will take a while, or just not respond if you have problems later down the line.
Thai surgeons use a different technique than what is done in the US, and some people like the aesthetics more. But with everything I've heard about their after-care and inconsistency in doing revisions, it just doesn't seem worth it to me. This surgery has a huge potential for devastating side-effects, and even though they're rare, you really want someone responsive and in your corner to help you with them. And I don't get that vibe from Thai surgeons, so that alone is enough for me to not even consider them.
The aftercare and revisions comments have come up quite a bit. I don't think that's exactly exclusive to them though, I think it would better to get it done in the country you live in though. Not having insurance isn't the issue, having insurance that covers anything trans related is. I live in the bible belt, insurance that covers anything trans related much less any surgeries is kind of hard to find. Hell Planned Parenthood is a godsend here and fairly rare.
You don’t want to get to the point of actually needing a revision. You’re in some level of trouble once you do. It’s hard to find out for many surgeons how prepared they are to do them as well. There’s occasional posts asking where women can get revisions and not many answers.
If you look at Jazz Jennings as a recent example, it looks like she’s going for another revision surgery and has huge scars. She went to top USA surgeons, but they had difficulty because she had been on blockers/hrt from a young age. I know someone like that who went to Suporn and got a really good result because he’s really good at that kind of problem.
To your first point: some surgeons are definitely better than others on the revision / after-care regard. Certainly true that you'll be better off with a surgeon in your own country / area. But I've seen more than a few cases where it takes weeks or months to even get the Thai surgeons to respond. Shit, there was a post on here a couple months ago where the OP was having problems after being home for a little, and after finally getting in contact, their surgeon pretty much said "nothing we can do, sorry". Add that to the fact that surgeons are hesitant to touch the work of other doctors, and you'd have a lot of trouble getting after-care after already leaving Thailand. But I've never heard of anything like that from any US surgeons.
Ty for specifying that it's not having insurance that matters, but the quality of its coverage. That really, really sucks -- I'm so sorry to hear. I am admittedly disillusioned living in my NY-bubble, so that was really enlightening for me. I can see why Thai surgeons would be appealing.
I'm just hoping at this point Bernie gets in and actually gets m4a passed. There are so many barriers to care in supposedly the "best" country in the world and land of the "free".
I wouldn't hold my breath for Bernie, unfortunately. As much as I would love to see him or Warren in office, I think they're too threatening to anyone slightly above middle-class. No one wants to pay more taxes -- and tbh I don't blame them. I don't really trust the govt to spend my extra money smartly / responsibly.
But regardless, I think the national attitude is moving towards m4a. Maybe not in the next two or three presidencies, but I think we'll see it in our lifetime. Obama (arguably) made the first step, but it'll be a huge game of tug-of-war until it comes through. It helps that even republican citizens viewed Obamacare favorably, but that didn't stop the GOP from gutting it and then saying "see, Obamacare sucks!" -- which of course worked wonderfully for them.
Just find yourself a nice Canadian spouse and get them to green-card marry you! (/s obv)
Lol if only I could find a canadian spouse .
I don't really trust the govt to spend my extra money smartly / responsibly.
I can’t work out if you’re serious. You’d trust the Canadian government, but not your own? You trust for profit companies over the government? The government may be some level of incompetent, but the insurance companies in the USA appear to be straight up evil.
It depends in the surgeon rather than the country. Take a look at Kathy Rumer in the USA in wiki here for example.
For sure. But I see that trend more out of Thai surgeons than those in the US. Not saying US surgeons are incapable of providing that same level of poor after-care, just that I've noticed it more from people seeing Thai surgeons.
There’s no real “thai surgeons”. There’s huge variation among them. You’re going to get completely different service and price from Suporn than say Thep ($2200 for srs).
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Oh shit that's awesome.
Who was your surgeon?
to quickly just answer your question:
Surgeon over country. Surgery done in Thailand isn't subpar because of the country it's in; it's subpar if the surgeon doesn't do a good job and doesn't stand behind it. There are good Thai doctors and results (... I should know, I have one).
That said it's not that much less expensive over there, depending on who you go to. I think the costs in the US are generally worth it but they vary depending on doctor; if you shop around you should find something that fits for you (and if you can get insurance, it almost doesn't matter).
There’s photos of post op results in the wiki if you want to judge for yourself.
I made an AMA after I got back from Thailand. Someone asked me for the cost so I broke it down
Sweet, thanks :)
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