I had my GRS with Dr. John Patrick Selph at the UAB Kirkland urology clinic in Birmingham AL on June 16th. As far I know, I was his 4th surgery and 4th GRS performed in the state’s history. My friend was 5th on the following day.

It was a peritoneal graft vaginoplasty, labiaplasty and clitoral hood. I didn’t have a lot of donor material from my scrotal area. Selph doesn’t require hair removal, the tissue was scraped during surgery to remove hair from the grafts going further inside the vagina.

This post is primarily for people that might live in the southeast and are interested in SRS with a reconstructive urologist instead of a plastic surgeon. This post serves to be informational, I don’t want this to turn into a debate or argue opinions, I’m just here to share some info and later I can share a video blog of my process. I’m also here to answer questions for anyone about my experience working with Dr. Selph.

Overall I’m very happy with the result. It probably hit 9/10 of my wishlist so to speak.

Depth: depth is great, the peritoneal graft meant that I have about 8” of depth maybe more. I have the Soul source curved hard plastic dilators and I can fit the teal (second from the largest) dilator in and sink all of the indicator pips where they aren’t visible anymore.

Clitoral sensitivity: I requested that he leave me with a slightly larger clitoris. I wanted more sensitivity and reduce the risk for loss of sensitivity. Not only do I have full sensitivity 11 days post surgery, it’s borderline feel good sensitivity. I don’t have any dead feeling spots. As for sensitivity all around the area it’s pretty good.

Peritoneal graft: of course deeper in the vagina there’s not much feeling but pressure on surrounding tissue and organs. From minor exploration, it feels like a vaginal tissue and the angle at which the vagina cavity is feels pretty straight and unobstructed. Very happy.

Hair in and around the vagina: there’s a lot here, I’m already working with my Electrolosys tech to plan the removal around the clittoral area. I’m really glad I waited on this, it’s easier to remove hair than deal with weird bald patches I’ve seen where some people go overboard with the hair removal pre-op. It’s going to be some work and I’m fine with that.

Outer appearance: I’m fluffy down there, I’ve got a good pubic mound and wide hips, with pants on already things look great. Jury is still out until this area and swelling goes down more. But overall I like it.

I’m healing fast, I’ve got a small spot on the left labia where a drain pulled out too soon post surgery and the tissue is raw and exposed there. It seems to be healing up fast though. Swelling is minimal, I was on a lot of antibiotics in my IV and my stay at the UAB hospital was fantastic. The nursing staff was amazing, no misgendering (although my medical and legal documentation has said female for 2 years now) I’m pretty sure some of the staff didn’t even know me or the other two trans women here were trans, I was asked multiple times about my “cycle” and that always gives me a chuckle. The answer is always “no cycle, I have hormonal periods but I was born without a uterus” (not a lie and medically accurate) it was a 5 day hospital stay and I was discharged as soon as I was able to pee on my own after the catheter was removed.

Communication post surgery has been fantastic, I had a follow up appointment after 10 days, I’ll have another one as I see necessary in the next 30 days. I had a physical therapy session with a wonderful lady that helped me with dilation. I’ll post her company here whenever I remember it.

Anyway, I rate my experience with Dr Selph and the Kirkland clinic of UAB very high so far. Feel free to ask questions but I’ll respond as I see them. Thanks!

Footnote: I recognize this is still very early and I’ve got a long ways to go for healing etc. I’ll come back and post updates as things change.