Cosmetic Clitoridectomy in a 33-Year-Old Woman

Abstract

The Female Genital Mutilation Act (2003) in England allows for mental health exceptions for cosmetic surgery resulting from perceived abnormality. Similar legislation exists in other countries. There are no reported cases of clitoridectomy for cosmetic reasons or any discussion in the literature of mental health exceptions to the Act. This is a single case report on a 33-year-old married, heterosexual woman who had already had a cosmetic labiaplasty and was seeking a clitoridectomy for aesthetic reasons. At assessment, there were no psychiatric contra-indications or unrealistic expectations and the patient proceeded with a clitoridectomy. At 9 and 22 months follow-up, she was reassessed and was very pleased with the outcome. There were improvements in the satisfaction with her genital appearance, sexual satisfaction, and quality of life related to body image. Assessments for cosmetic clitoridectomy will continue to be rare, but this case may provide some guidance for practitioners who are confronted with such requests for body modification. However there remains only limited understanding of the motivation for such a request.

Should female genital cosmetic surgery and genital piercing be regarded ethically and legally as female genital mutilation?

“…‘Vaginal rejuvenation’, ‘revirgination’, ‘designer vaginoplasty’ and ‘G‐spot amplification’ are among the types of surgeries promoted, and encompass surgical alteration, usually reduction, of the size of the labia minora and/or labia majora by excision, partial removal of vaginal mucosa and surgical ‘tightening’ of the upper vagina and/or perineal muscles 8 . Clitoral hood reduction and cosmetic clitoridectomy have also been described 9 . Although in the UK a substantial number of these procedures are undertaken in the private sector, ∼2000 labial reduction operations were performed by the National Health Service in 2010, representing a five‐fold increase in a 10‐year period 4,10 …”

Cosmetic Clitoridectomy in a 33-Year-Old Woman: Reply to Friedman (2011) and Levine (2011)

“…I should like to thank Friedman (2011) and Levine (2011) for their commentaries and for stimulating such debate regarding our case report (Veale & Daniels, 2011). I may be able to provide a few of the answers to the questions posed.…”

Female genital mutilation/cutting type IV in Cambodia: a case report

“…Cosmetic clitoral hood reduction, clitoridectomy 9, and labia minora reduction are, from an anatomic point of view, the same procedures as FGM/C type I and II. However, if an African woman asks for her own or her adolescent daughter's genitals to be excised for traditional reasons, it is a criminal offence.…”