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Content warningThis article mentions genitals and surgery. If you are not comfortable with reading about this kind of topic, we suggest you take a step back. |
Orchiectomy (also called orchidectomy' or orchi) is a surgery to take away the testicles. For transgender people on the male-to-female spectrum (which includes some intersex and nonbinary people), they can want this as part of their transition, because then their body no longer makes high levels of testosterone, and they don't have to take testosterone blocking medicine anymore, if that was part of their hormone therapy. After an orchiectomy, the person still has the option to get a vaginoplasty later, if they want. However, for some transgender people, orchiectomy is the only kind of genital surgery ("bottom surgery") that they want. Because orchiectomy takes away the gonads, it is a kind of gonadectomy or castration. That makes it so the person's body can't make hormones any more, so the person needs to either take hormone therapy for the rest of their life, or take the health risks of having low hormones. It is also a kind of sterilization, making it so the person's body can't make gametes and therefore children.
