[Asking MtF people who have had genital surgery, ideally in Chicago]
Hello! I started talking to my doctor yesterday about finding a surgeon for a bilateral orchiectomy. We both agreed Chicago would probably be a practical place to find someone experienced in the procedure.
I found two doctors: Dr. Loren Schechter, MD, and Dr. Traci P. Beck, MD. Both have come up in my searching, but I wanted to check if anyone in the community has advice / recommendations for who to go to.
I have only heard bad things about Dr Schechter when I was doing my research for my GRS years ago, as that was the closest doc to where I lived. I’d heard that his results were not great, and that he was very disrespectful, especially when his patients needed revision due to shoddy work. Those reviews are why I ended up going out of state for mine. I don’t know anything about the other doc. Good luck.
My brief look into GRS surgeons in the Chicago area ended with similar conclusions, there aren’t any (sufficiently) good ones in the area and you have to go out of state.
Admittedly this is a somewhat relative perspective, some people care less about aesthetics and are more risk tolerant, etc. so my advice to anyone is to find pictures people have posted of the surgeon’s handiwork, and read as much about people’s experiences with that surgeon as possible.
Personally I don’t care about bedside manner at all, the surgeon I chose is arrogant, vain, and spends as little time with his patients as possible … I chose him because results were good, and because he was such a skillful surgeon. Not everyone is like me or has my particular tolerances, so it’s important to get clear on your needs and what is important to you.