# Do male-to-female post-operative transgendereds lubricate?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 29, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609 "2003-07-29T08:08:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/1 "2003-07-29T08:08:15Z")
Cecil has tackled the subject of whether [post-operative transgendereds can experience orgasm](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000908.html). I know about female-to-male transgendereds’ ability to get an erection, but I want to know about the untold side of the story.
So, when a man goes through sex reassignment surgery and becomes a woman, does she lubricate? If not, isn’t sex terribly uncomfortable? If she does, how does she? How do the doctors accomplish this?
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/2 "2003-07-29T08:16:16Z")
Astroglide is the answer in most cases, it appears:
> [@](#):
>
> During sexual arousal, there is some vaginal lubrication - though in most cases the patient should apply lubricant jelly at the vaginal opening prior to intercourse (as with dilation).
[_Source_](http://srs-thailand.com/SRS.html)
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/3 "2003-07-29T08:26:26Z")
I should have added that I have no idea if any of the plethora of different surgical techniques available have any varying results with regard to lubrication, but my woefully WAG would be that since you’re generally working with the same raw material, the results would be similar.
Is there a surgery that involves transplanted mucous membranes?
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### Author:  [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/4 "2003-07-29T09:24:20Z")
Thanks. By the way, those pictures look really good! I’ve been wondering how the new vaginae looked, and if you could tell them apart from original vaginae. As far as I can tell, you can’t. Medical science is great.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/5 "2003-07-29T09:25:29Z")
I’ve heard of post-vaginal cancer reconstruction of the vagina using a piece of intestine, which would produce mucus and thus “lubricate”. I also recall hearing that it isn’t quite the same as the original equipment. I have no idea if this is ever used with M-to-F transsexuals (don’t they usually invert the penis to construct a vaginia?).
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/6 "2003-07-29T09:34:21Z")
Ayai! I didn’t scroll the entire way down the page, so I wasn’t aware that I was linking to a page with photos of someone’s genitals, no matter how informational-rather-than-wank-materialish they are, or I would have included a warning.
Sorry if that’s a transgression!
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### Author:  [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/7 "2003-07-29T09:51:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \*
> \*\*Ayai! I didn’t scroll the entire way down the page, so I wasn’t aware that I was linking to a page with photos of someone’s genitals, no matter how informational-rather-than-wank-materialish they are, or I would have included a warning.
>
> Sorry if that’s a transgression! \*\*
Eh. It’s not like it is really anything more than informational.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/8 "2003-07-29T10:01:08Z")
I know, but I’ve had a couple of people respond to well-intentioned, labeled, and/or inexplicably work-filtered links with “AAAARGH! MUDD! NSFW! :mad: :mad: :mad:”, so I try to err on the side of caution.
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### Author:  [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/9 "2003-07-29T12:40:56Z")
“The New Vaginae”
If that isn’t a band name, then Bob’s your uncle.
They came into being after the band “The Vaginae” broke up, but before the band “The New Original Vaginae” were formed.
You can look it up.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/10 "2003-07-29T16:12:40Z")
I like how the OP very carefully qualified his question as being for _post-op_ transgendered only. If he had left that out, you just know that some wise-ass is going to chime in about pre-ops and their lack of vaginae.
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### Author:  [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-male-to-female-post-operative-transgendereds-lubricate/191609/11 "2003-07-29T16:14:08Z")
Some surgeons have done some work with using the remaindered urethral lining (remember, the urethra is shortened during reassignment) to provide some vaginal lubrication. I’m not sure if this technique has been generally adopted or not.