Sex change surgery, more appropriately known as sex reassignment surgery (SRS) or gender reassignment surgery (GRS), is the final stage in the physical transitioning of a transsexual or transgendered male-to-female or female-to-male. SRS is a surgical procedure that entails removing the genitalia of one sex and constructing genital organs of the opposite sex. The procedure meets with high rates of success when performed by responsible and experienced surgeons, particularly for male-to-female procedures. Surgery of this type has been performed for 50 or more years and, while the number is much lower than in the 1970s, more than 25 male-to-female SRSs are performed each week in North America alone. When done by experts, orgasm, or at least "a reasonable degree of erogenous sensitivity," can be experienced by individuals who have undergone SRS.

There are two reasons to alter the genital organs from one sex to another.

• Newborns...