Why Have Labiaplasty? My Story.

As a teenager, before I had even heard the term 'labiaplasty', I didn't really like the look of my labia minora (which I will just call the labia from now on). They were different lengths - the right labia was about 15mm longer than the left one - and both protruded past the labia majora.

Labelled diagram of a vulva. Not my vulva!
From Wikipedia. Image is in the public domain.

At the point where they protruded past the labia majora, they suddenly changed colour from the pinky flesh in the rest of my vulva to a dark brown colour, which I, in my young ignorance, thought was due to not being cleaned well enough. You can imagine my disappointment when scrubbing hard, trying all different kinds of soaps and even nail polish remover (yes, ouch) didn't get rid of the brown. Eventually, I asked my mother about it and she said she had the same discolouration and asymmetrical labia and that a lot of women did. Feeling better, I just accepted my labia and carried on.

Fast forward a few years later into my late teens and early twenties: my periods had finally become regular, I had experienced thrush, I had a much better understanding about my sexual health and - critically - my lifestyle had changed - I was now sexually active and travelling frequently as a backpacker.

The lifestyle factors were primarily what caused me to think about my labia again. As a backpacker that frequently travelled off the beaten track, genital hygiene became more of a headache. I wouldn't always have access to showers and wet wipes would sometimes cause irritation. My preference for environmentally-friendly recycled toilet paper often left me with toilet paper lint - this was generally worse while I had my period. The lint was obviously unhygienic, but it also sometimes caused irritation rashes and was flagged by my family doctor as a possible cause of my recurring cystitis problems.

Recycled paper toilet roll. Great for the environment; not so great for your vulva.
Photo by Brandon Blinkenberg and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic licence.

I started having Brazilian waxes which helped a lot with the hygiene - the lint and any other mess was no longer sticking to my pubic hair - but they still stuck to my labia and caused the old same problems. Labia skin can be very rumpled and mine are perhaps more so - given that my right labia is so much bigger, longer and thicker than my left. I guess "bigger, longer and thicker" are attributes that are only useful to male genitalia.

Yep, these are my labia. I was due for a wax when these photos were taken - excuse the hair!

The other problem I started to notice about my labia was that it was getting in the way during sex. As you can see in the diagram above, labia have triangular shapes. My right labia's longest point is next to the vaginal orifice. It sometimes 'tucks itself in' and can essentially block the entrance to my vagina, as if I had grown a new hymen. During sex, my partner's penis would push through (which can be painful in itself) and pull my right labia into my vagina. This is obviously uncomfortable but also sometimes painful, especially when there wasn't enough lubricant.

I want to stress at this point that I never received any negative feedback about my labia from any of my sexual partners. To be honest, I can't remember a time when I heard a partner say anything about my labia. The men I partnered with were all very respectful about my ladybits and most of them gave me a damn good time :) A few were concerned about the pain I sometimes experienced - but I never tried to explain to them that my labia were the cause. I usually just suggested we use more lubricant or keep going regardless. Quite often they would still worry and stop altogether.

I know that some women have had labiaplasty performed because of perceived negative comments from their partners - and I have no problem with their choice in doing so. But I want readers to know that in my case, my reasons for wanting a labiaplasty are about comfort, not male opinions and not pornography-driven aesthetics. I hadn't even seen another woman's vulva when, as a teenager, I decided mine looked weird. Having a neater-looking vulva is not something I'd be unhappy about! But the key complaint here is comfort, not looks.

The problem here isn't men. It's an over-sized labia.
Photo by Joshua Rappeneker and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence.

I'll give one last example of how my right labia causes discomfort - although, to be fair, this doesn't happen often. My right labia has a tendency to tuck itself into the labia majora (making hygiene an issue) but every so often, it'll hang out and rub against my underwear. This causes it to get dry and red from irritation. Sometimes, I've had to go to the bathroom and tuck it back in again, just to have some respite from the discomfort. It's not fun.

So, there you have it. Over my late teens and early twenties, hygiene and comfort (particularly comfort during sex) brought my attention back to my previously acceptable labia. Their aesthetics didn't bother me anymore like it did in my mid-teens, but the everyday comfort issues were becoming worse, even after finding workarounds, like brazilian waxes and lubricant.

I first heard about the labiaplasty procedure six years ago. I actually first heard about it in a negative light - newspaper articles and feminist columnists were decrying the proliferation of "designer vagina" operations, which they claim were becoming more popular because of "unrealistic expectations set by the porn industry", etc.

But I didn't pay much attention to any of that. Instead, my ears pricked up when I realised that there was a solution to these comfort problems I had for years! I tried researching it more, but there was little information available that wasn't condemning labiaplasty outright.

The idea that I could get labiaplasty stuck with me, and every so often, a new article about it would cross my path. There was one article in particular that grabbed my attention. Instead of condemning the procedure itself, it criticised the GPs that were performing labiaplasty on the cheap in their rooms. This, the article argued, was the primary reason why problems from the procedure have risen in number.

Instead, women should go to surgeons who were best qualified to do the procedure, in properly equipped suites or hospitals. Patients who were trying to save money on the operation had sometimes suffered really bad consequences, such as loss of sensation in the clitoris. I certainly didn't want this, and I knew from unrelated past experiences that plastic surgeons are best qualified to cut away bits of skin safely. So I knew I had to see a plastic surgeon with experience in labiaplasty.

I did just that over a year ago. I received a referral from a GP and saw a female plastic surgeon with plenty of experience in labiaplasty. She was very thorough in her description of the procedure - very quick to point out the risks of the operation and also the risk of having unrealistic expectations. She also had several folders full of letters from previous patients, thanking her for her work. The signs looked good that I'd be in safe hands.

I was very happy with her photo portfolio and happy with her attitude. So I agreed to have the labiaplasty done by her. However, I didn't have any private health insurance. The costs at the time were too much for me, even after a Medicare rebate. It was suggested I come back with health insurance that would cover pre-existing conditions (which generally have a wait time of 12 months). That's exactly what I've done.

It's been over a year since I've been to the clinic. I'm booked in to see her again in under a week, so I'll report more then.