It has been almost 20 years since I did my first labia reduction / labiaplasty surgery.
I remember clearly the conversation I had with a 43 year old woman who was distraught after having a procedure (simple vulvectomy) by another Gynecologist, to make her labia smaller. They were too long and she wanted this corrected.
On the day of her surgery, I happened to be the trainee Fellow who assisted her Gynecologist with an incontinence surgery procedure. Once this was procedure was completed, almost as an afterthought, a simple Vulvectomy was done, this is the excision of her inner labia. Unfortunately, the result was not expected nor wanted. Her new labia were not the same size and there were rail track like indentations and scarring where the sutures had been.
I remember her saying to me that she could no longer have sex with her husband because she was so embarrassed by the appearance of her new labia and she felt shame, more than before the surgery.
She had lost her libido and sexual / genital confidence. It was then that I decided to develop a technique that would result in none or very rare scarring and asymmetry.
Fast forward almost 20 years and numerous successful procedures.
Although I do many other Vulva and Gynecology procedures, some for diagnosing cancer, others are surgery for precancer, and procedures for helping women become pregnant, Labiaplasty is often the most gratifying of them all. Not that I have saved a life, but rather because I feel I have provided some women with a newfound confidence of their genital area. This leads to an increased self and sexual confidence, more freedom to enter into new relationships, and the ability to have more satisfying sex without the embarrassment and sometimes shame they felt before.