Nullification Surgery
In July of 2023, I sent out initial inquiries for a gender confirmation surgery that, for my entire life up until the year before, I had thought was just a fantasy—but, as it turns out, is actually possible.
The procedures that I refer to as my null surgery or nullification surgery—also known as a nulloplasty or nullectomy—involve removing all of the external reproductive organs, as well as most or all of the internal ones. Ideally, the outer region is left with a single vertical seam, with no "parts" visible. (Out of necessity, of course, bathroom functions are preserved.)
When I first heard of its existence in 2022, there was very little information publicly available on nullification. The extent of my resources was a Queerdoc page and a clinic's website that, amazingly, had pre-op and post-op pictures available. At the time, Queerdoc listed six clinics in the United States, of which I sent inquiries to five (omitting one in Ohio due to the distance from me and, from what I had heard, the politically conservative climate).
Now, as I write this a mere four years ater, there are twelve surgeons listed, and from my conversations in a null surgery support group, I'm sure there are more out there. To my knowledge, there's also a Reddit page, as well as a few scattered, obscure websites like mine.
Still, as I've announced my surgery to my friends, almost none of them—even the ones who have researched their own surgeries—had ever heard of nullification. I'm sure there are many others out there, just like I was in 2022, wishing so badly to look like that, but resigned to the fact that it probably just doesn't exist.
But it does. So, even as the information available on nullification slowly expands, I'm documenting as much of my experience as I can. Navigating gender confirmation surgery is an arduous process to begin with—I hope can offer insight on some of the peculiarities of pursuing nullification.