Bay Area NonBinary Top Surgery (Kaiser): Surgeons & Results?

May 19, 2023 12:25 PM

My friend is looking for a top surgeon (double mastectomy or aggressive breast reduction) in the Bay Area. A similar question was answered in 2013, but the top recommendation doesn't work with Kaiser and it has been ten years. Please share names, locations, experiences, and any (Bay Are) resources found helpful in getting care. Details in their words below.

Hi there! I am an afab nonbinary/genderqueer mid size to large person who is getting top surgery soon. I live in the Bay Area, CA.

And I am looking for Kaiser surgeons that have portfolios and specialize in working with nonbinary people. Any recs?

Also, if anyone is willing to share pics post surgery, I’m looking for mid to large people who got a double mastectomy or aggressive breast reduction.

I appreciate you all in advance for your help!

posted by kitten_hat to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

Rediit r/ftm is a place to look. Sort of hard to navigate but it is there. I sent you a mefi message as well about some other resources.
posted by AlexiaSky at 2:12 PM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

My friend in the Oakland/Berkeley area actually left Kaiser specifically because of how difficult they were making it for him to get his top surgery. He changed insurance companies and had the surgery done promptly and successfully. I believe he found a surgeon first and asked them what insurance they accepted and they helped him with the change. This was about a year ago now.

In terms of pictures, you may want to join the following facebook groups.

Top Surgery Support (removal/reduction)
Nonbinary top surgery and reduction discussion & support
I have no nipples (or may not have nipples in the future)
posted by Nickel at 2:51 PM on May 19, 2023

hello!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Reduction/ is a helpful & trans-friendly community. If you ask this question there you will probably find some good recommendations for surgeons. There are also lots of before, during healing, & post-healing photos, including of people who've had radical reductions, but you need to join before you can see them.
posted by EllaEm at 6:51 PM on May 19, 2023

Kaiser has a trans clinic in their Oakland facility that I found very helpful. You should get a referral to see them and they will help you with the rest. In my experience, nonbinary top surgery is so common these days esp in the bay area that basically any surgeon you see will be experienced with nonbinary people. When I got surgery in 2018, my surgeon had a policy that she would share photos with you in the consult but for privacy reasons that was the only time you could look at them. She left me alone to look so that I could take my time to think about what I wanted.
posted by Summers at 3:46 AM on May 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Part of the process for top surgery at KP is an optional zoom meeting with a group of prospective surgery recipients, a social worker from the Oakland KP trans clinic, a KP surgeon from the group that does this surgery, and a small panel of folks who are recent recipients of surgery. The meeting I attended had a range of non binary folks and trans men on the panel. This step comes before scheduling surgery. Great way to get real people's experiences and questions answered.
posted by latkes at 3:59 AM on May 20, 2023 [1 favorite]