Liz Youngs remembers vividly the day her life changed forever. It was her 50th birthday—April 19, 2017. That marked the end of a 32-year quest to complete her transition from life as a man to life as a woman.

Liz's gradual transition, which began at age 18, included psychiatric and psychological evaluations, 4 years of hormone treatments, and a lengthy search to find the right surgeon and support care.

Following 6-hour gender-affirming genital surgery at Cedars-Sinai and a 3-month recovery at home, Liz says she is now the person she always was meant to be.

"I'm complete," she says. "I'm finally happy. I'm comfortable with who I am. I have a whole new life ahead of me."

Liz was one of the first patients of Cedars-Sinai's new Transgender Surgery and Health Program, which offers comprehensive services including gender-affirming and plastic surgeries, hormone management, and mental health counseling.

The new Transgender Surgery and Health Program is directed by Dr. Maurice Garcia and staffed by specialists invested in helping members of the transgender community at every stage of their journeys.

"The bedrock of our program is that we're as committed to follow-up care as we are to patients' initial care," says Dr. Garcia, a board-certified urologist.

"We are a community program and a far-reaching one," he says. "We offer not just expertise but a strong commitment to providing ongoing access to that expertise."

The Cedars-Sinai Transgender Surgery and Health Program is available to all patients seeking gender-affirming surgery and healthcare, including those covered by Medi-Cal and Medicare. The following services are provided:

• Patient education
• Comprehensive male-to-female and female-to-male gender-affirming surgeries
• Complex revision surgeries
• Urologic surgery
• Plastic surgery
• Otolaryngology (ear, nose, throat, and facial) surgery
• Hysterectomy
• Colorectal reconstructive surgery
• Radiology diagnostic and surgical planning
• Adolescent medicine
• Geriatric transgender medical and surgical care
• Infectious disease care/HIV specialty care
• Vocal cord and speech therapy
• Dermatology and permanent hair removal
• Fertility preservation
• Hormone management
• Comprehensive gender-affirming care for adolescents
• Mental health and psychiatry services
• Internal medicine, primary care, and family medicine

For more information, visit the Transgender Surgery and Health Program at cedars-sinai.org.