Transsexual people show a discrepancy between biological sex and gender. In seeking to resolve this, they choose surgery such as neocolpovulvoplasty (change from male to female), phalloplasty (inverse change), mastectomy, hysterectomy and hormone therapy. This study investigated the situations experienced by these people in their search for harmony with their bodies, including before and after surgery. Four transsexuals who had undergone surgery or were on track to achieve it were interviewed. The importance of hormonal and surgical interventions was observed, as well as a change in legal name, as conditions for a better life. It was noted, however, that the waiting list in the Brazilian National Health System (SUS), the preoperative protocol of two years, the cost of surgery in private clinics and the lack of legal regulation for changes in documentation are some of the greatest difficulties encountered in achieving the sex change process.
Transsexuality; Transgenitalization; Sex; Gender; SUS