Gender-Affirming Surgery
Everyone deserves to feel at ease in their own skin. For many transgender and gender-diverse people, this may include aligning their body with their gender identity. Gender-affirming surgery offers a variety of personalized procedures to support that process, delivered with compassion, respect, and a commitment to your safety and well-being.
Gender-Affirming Surgery at UVA Health
At UVA Health, you’ll get care from one of the leading providers of gender-affirming procedures in the region. You’ll find compassionate surgeons with expert skill. In our supportive, inclusive environment, we’ll work with you to identify your goals and address your fears and concerns.
Your journey through the gender affirmation can be deeply personal and life-changing. We’re here to help make the process as comfortable as possible. Our methods aim to minimize scars, pain, and recovery time. We work for results that will please and empower you.
Gender-Confirmation Surgery at UVA Health
At UVA Health, our transgender surgeons understand the importance of aligning your physical appearance with your gender identity. Plastic and reconstructive surgeon JT Stranix, MD, and urologist Sean Corbett, MD, discuss the commitment and care offered by UVA's transgender surgery specialists.
Dr. JT Stranix: I can only imagine how distressing it is to have an external anatomic appearance that is not congruent with how you identify as an individual person in terms of where you fall on the gender spectrum. That, I'm sure, has an enormous impact on self-esteem, self-confidence, overall wellbeing. And so the primary goal of any patient encounter I have is to firmly establish what their needs are so that I can help them achieve those. From a masculinization standpoint, whether they need a double incision technique, or if we're able to get away with a minimally-invasive technique that leaves just scars around the nipples. From a feminization standpoint, there's a large range of different chest shapes and sizes. And I want to make sure that I know where they want to end up so that I can help them get there. Dr. Sean Corbett: I offer various gender confirmation procedures, specifically bottom surgery procedures. Most of what I've been offering from a surgical standpoint is gender-confirming surgery for the male to female transition, primarily orchiectomy, scrotal excision, some of the more straightforward procedures like that. But pairing up with Dr. JT Stranix and our plastic surgery department, our goal is to offer the full complement of bottom surgery procedures, including vaginoplasty, and phalloplasty, and metoidioplasty. Dr. JT Stranix: This program is really something special. We all, as providers, like each other, respect each other, and look forward to collaborating and working with each other. That dynamic has led to a really robust program that has a very positive trajectory. Dr. Sean Corbett: My experience thus far is when these patients come in after their procedures, in general, there is kind of like a weight lifted where they're so satisfied with what's been done.
Gender-Affirming Procedures
Transgender surgery includes:
- Top surgery
- Bottom surgery
- Facial surgery
In these procedures, we add or remove sex characteristics and features so that your physical appearance matches your gender identity. Top surgery removes or adds breasts. Bottom surgeries remove and construct genitalia. Facial plastic surgery adjusts and shapes the structure of your face to look more masculine or feminine.
Our expertise covers several options for both:
Read our gender-affirming surgery FAQs.
Patient Education Resources : Gender-Confirmation Surgery
February 12, 2026
11001 - ERAS Gender Affirming Surgery -- Phalloplasty
October 9, 2025
06015 Spanish - Caring for your urinary catheter at home
Document Description: Information about care of a urinary (foley) catheter after discharge including infection prevention and prevention of urinary tract infections in Spanish.
October 9, 2025
06015 - Caring for your urinary catheter at home
Document Description: Information about care of a urinary (foley) catheter after discharge including infection prevention and prevention of urinary tract infections.