What is Labiaplasty, a plastic surgery procedure that alters the inner folds of skin that are part of the vulva called the labia minora and, less commonly, the hair-bearing outer layer called the labia majora. As with any type of surgery, labiaplasty isn’t without its risks — which can include bleeding, removing too much or too little tissue, infection, scarring and loss of sensitivity — particularly when it’s not performed by an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon. It’s something 36-year-old San Francisco resident knows firsthand. She was a teenager when she found photos of labia online — her first real introduction to seeing other vulvas. She realized that her labia minora hung down lower than the ones in a photo she saw. It was the first time that she thought maybe she wasn’t “normal” and started seeking out other photos to find images of vulvas that looked more like hers. Instead, she says, she found several images from medical textbooks in which the labia minora were barely visible. She went to her mother’s ob-gyn, who reassured her that she was perfectly “normal.” But she didn’t believe it. She says she didn’t realize that having the inner lips of the vulva protrude past the outer lips is actually completely normal and quite common. Around 50% of women have labia minora longer than their labia majora. When she was 18, she told her father, a plastic surgeon, that she was experiencing pain from her labia minora. He set her up with an ob-gyn surgeon at a hospital, who performed labiaplasty. However, she claims that her surgeon, who she says was not trained to do the procedure, “amputated” her labia minora, as well as performed a clitoral hood reduction, which removes excess skin surrounding the clitoris — all without her consent. The surgery, she explains, severely impacted her sexual function, including her ability to orgasm — potential risks she was not informed of at the time. After what she went through, she became a full-time activist for better vulvar anatomy education and training standards for vulvar surgeries. “I don’t advocate for labiaplasty to be banned,” she says. “I advocate for informed consent and a reasonable standard of care.” According to Lee, patients need to be informed of the risks of over-resection, which is the removal of too much tissue, which can be deforming. “Injuring the nerves to the clitoris is a complication that should not happen if performed by an experienced, American Board of Plastic Surgery board certified plastic surgeon,” he says. “This is because the nerves that go to the clitoris should not be injured during a routine labiaplasty.” Like any surgery, “there’s still some risk,” says Lee, “and so patients have to really educate themselves and make sure this is right for them and that they will be going to somebody who knows what they’re doing.” Why aren't the same people complaining about transgender surgery complaining about labiaplasty?
