9 inspiring photos to help you transition from female to male

Gender affirmation surgery can be an incredibly freeing and life-changing decision. But it’s also understandable if the thought of going under the knife makes you anxious. Like any major surgery, there are risks of complications, scarring, and infection. And depending on the kind of surgery you get, you can experience changes in sexual satisfaction and sensation in certain areas.

But for the majority of trans people who opt for surgery, the benefits outweigh the risks and disadvantages. For one, researchers have reported that there are long-term mental health benefits to gender affirmation surgery. Many trans people have said that the anxiety and depression they’ve had due to gender dysphoria lessens over time, and they begin to feel more comfortable, confident, and at home in their bodies. Plus, the complication rate for female to male gender affirmation surgery is relatively low at 5.8%.

If you’re still apprehensive about gender-affirming surgery and its effects on your sexual and physical health, perhaps seeing success stories from trans men who have gone through it all may help assuage your worries. So here are a few “female to male” transition photos to inspire and affirm so you can have a little bit of a preview of what to expect on your own transition.

AdBridg.cmd.push(function() { AdBridg.display("div-gpt-ad-inarticle1"); });

Related: Transgender People Are Less Healthy Than Cis People, Here’s Why

9 Transition Photos That Prove That It Does Get Better

Before we jump into our list of inspiring images, we’d like to point out that transitioning is different for everyone. Some people may feel that gender-affirming surgery is integral to the improvement of their mental health. Others may not even see surgery and hormone therapy (HRT) as a necessary step in their transition journey. It’s totally fine either way, as long as you’re happy!

And for those who do undergo some type of procedure, remember that individual results vary. The photos included in this list are meant to inspire and affirm but are in no way the gold standard of what a trans person post-surgery is supposed to look like. In fact, there is no standard! All bodies are unique, valid, and beautiful either way.

1. Jamie Raines

Jamie Raines is an English YouTuber who often talks about his experiences as a trans man in his vlogs. Over the course of six years, Jamie documented his transition journey, taking viewers along for the ride as he experienced all the physical and psychological changes of undergoing HRT, top surgery, and metoidioplasty – a type of surgery done to create a “new penis” out of tissues taken from the clitoris.

AdBridg.cmd.push(function() { AdBridg.display("div-gpt-ad-inarticle2"); });

Unlike a phalloplasty, which is a complicated procedure that involves lengthening one’s urethra and a skin graft from one’s forearm for penile construction, metoidioplasty surgery has a lower risk of urological complications and a faster healing time. Raines also underwent scrotoplasty, which is a form of lower surgery done to create a scrotum.

Check out these side-by-side photos of Jamie six months after their top surgery and eight years post-op.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jamie Raines (@jammi.dodger)

2. Chella Man

Chella Man is a deaf, trans-masculine, Chinese-Jewish artist who, like Jamie, spent several years documenting his transition journey and sharing his experiences with HRT and top surgery. Chella has spoken up about having to be “his own representation” as he had a hard time finding someone else in the media who looked like him.

AdBridg.cmd.push(function() { AdBridg.display("div-gpt-ad-inarticle3"); });

Last year, Chella shared a video of himself during his first top surgery consultation next to a video of himself one month post-op and eight months on testosterone. In the caption, he writes about the evident changes the procedures have done not only to his appearance but to his confidence as well.

“Today, one month post-op and 8 months on testosterone, I stand with ease, welcoming the reflection I now see,” Chella writes. “My days of dysphoria have finally passed. I am free.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Chella Man (@chellaman)

3. Aiden Mann

Aiden Mann’s journey proves that gender-affirming surgery won’t always be a walk in the park and that for some trans folk, revisions are just part of the process. Through Instagram and TikTok, Aiden has been open about his struggles with the results of his subcutaneous mastectomy (a procedure involving the removal of the tissues in one’s breasts). He’s had to undergo multiple visits to his surgeon and several revisions, particularly because of the way his nipple scars heal.

AdBridg.cmd.push(function() { AdBridg.display("div-gpt-ad-inarticle4"); });

But still, Aiden persisted and seems happier than ever!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Aiden Michael Mann