Can transsexuals have orgasm after sex reassignment surgery?
Dear Cecil: After the operation, do transsexuals experience normal sexual function, including orgasm? If not, what’s the point? — B., Singapore What’s your idea of “normal”? Having studied the medical journals and spoken with Stanley Biber, one of the leading surgeons specializing in this line of work, I can tell you the following: (1) Some studies say that 80 to 100 percent of male-to-female transsexuals experience orgasm after sex reassignment surgery (this term is preferred to “sex change operation” nowadays). Dr. Biber claims a 95 percent orgasm rate in patients age 18 to 35, which is higher than the rate for biological women. Typically the researchers take the respondents’ word for it, though. One suspects a certain amount of wishful thinking. (2) One might suppose that sexual responsiveness would depend on the surgical technique used, but if there’s a consensus on the best way, you can’t tell from the medical literature. The procedure used by Dr. Biber is called penile inversion:
