Rehabilitation Protocol for Trans Women Following Bottom Surgery

Omer Elad | Nina Halevi

Gila Project for Trans Empowerment

Project goal:

To develop a uniform, gender-sensitive, and community-based rehabilitation protocol that will enable beneficial support for trans women after bottom surgery, reduce medical complications, and promote a new and accessible standard of care in the healthcare system.

Project description:

A surgery to shape female genitalia is a defining life event for trans women, which carries with it a significant rehabilitation challenge. The recovery and rehabilitation period requires persistence in a daily protocol of vaginal exercises for many months, and a constant encounter with pain, fear, and burnout. Despite the overwhelming agreement among doctors on the importance of persistence in rehabilitation, there is currently no uniform protocol for this: The recommendations for trans women undergoing this surgery are schematic, inaccessible, and sometimes even contradictory. In contrast, trans women have gained unique experience over the years and developed community guidance and support strategies, which have proven to be effective, but are not recognized by the system.

The Gila Trans Empowerment Project, the first trans organization in Israel, works to promote trans health through a deep connection to the community. The Gila Project is initiating the development of an innovative rehabilitation protocol to accompany trans women before and after bottom surgery. The protocol, based on a combination of professional, medical and paramedical knowledge, with accumulated experience from the field, will serve as a guiding tool for professionals - doctors, physiotherapists, social workers and others - on how to accompany trans women in an adapted, respectful and effective manner throughout all stages of rehabilitation.

The work on the protocol will include data collection, interviews with patients and experts, community and professional focus groups, and collaborative thinking workshops, until a comprehensive guideline document is formulated. Once developed, the protocol will be distributed to medical entities across the country, presented to the Ministry of Health, and incorporated into training and workshops for medical and community teams.

Our goal is to implement the protocol as an integral part of the medical rehabilitation pathway, thereby creating a new medical standard that will ensure that every trans woman will have the opportunity to go through the process with professional guidance, a sense of security, autonomy, and the knowledge that her rights are recognized and respected.