Our goal at the Gender Health Center is to help you affirm your gender identity, which may include surgery to reconstruct your chest.
This is also called “top surgery” and it can be an important step toward gender affirmation.
This is where our collaborative approach to patient care is key. Plastic surgeons conduct the actual chest reconstruction procedures, but the experience includes the expertise of primary care providers and behavioral health and hormone therapy specialists. Occupational therapists are also a vital part of the team after chest surgery to address post-operative swelling, scar management, strengthening of the upper body, and to offer strategies to assist with possible sensory issues that can result from gender-affirming activities/changes in the body. The team works with each patient to develop and execute a personalized plan of care before, during and after transition.
Chest reconstruction procedures include:
- Bilateral mastectomy to remove breast tissue and create a more masculine chest.
- Breast augmentation, which involves enlarging the breasts with implants to create a more feminine chest.
These procedures are available at Hartford and Backus hospitals.
