GENDER AFFIRMATION, FACIAL FEMINIZATION & TOP SURGERY IN MIAMI

Gender Affirmation Surgeries are designed to give transgender individuals the physical appearance and functional abilities of the specific gender they know themselves to be.

Procedures for gender affirmation include facial and top and bottom surgery. Dr. Rivera-Serrano is one of the few plastic surgeons in the country with formal hands-on training in gender affirmation surgery. He trained at the University of Gent in Belgium with Prof Dr. Stan Monstrey (and plastic surgery colleagues in his university department), who is world-renowned and a pioneer in transgender surgery. Dr. Rivera-Serrano decided to focus only on the face and top surgery, to be a specialist in these areas rather than the entire body, also understanding that bottom surgeries are better to be carried out at larger specialized centers with multidisciplinary teams. Moreover, Dr. Rivera-Serrano has very extensive training in facial, craniofacial, and breast surgery (please refer to his resume (Hyperlink ACA), which makes facial and top surgery more up his alley.)

Dr. Rivera-Serrano follows the WPATH guidelines and requires letters from a mental health provider and primary care physician (PCP) prior to surgery.

-Goals of facial feminization surgery include changing masculine features of the face to a more feminine or nonbinary appearance. Procedures include rhinoplasty, lip lift, forehead reduction, facial fat grafting, and otoplasty. 

-Goals of feminizing chest surgery include enhancing the size and shape of the breasts to create a more feminine appearance. Procedures include breast augmentation with implants or fat grafting.

-Goals of facial masculinization surgery include changing the feminine features of the face to a more masculine appearance. Procedures include fat grafting and chin or cheek implants. 

-Goals of masculinizing chest surgery include removing the breast tissue from both breasts and creating a masculine or nonbinary appearance of the chest. Procedures include partial and subtotal mastectomies (similar to excision gynecomastia surgery). Another very common operation performed by Dr. Rivera-Serrano is the double incision mastectomy. 

Rivera Plastic Surgery is a private practice and is not accepting medical insurance at this time due to the highly convoluted, complex, inefficient, arbitrary, and bureaucratic processes unilaterally established by most insurance carriers.