Deb,

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.  It's good to hear about a surgery with a happy ending.  The psychological aspect is the main reason I chose the surgery for my daughter.  I have another daughter who is now 12 (non-CAH).  I see the things that she is dealing with and the questions she asks me - What's wrong with me because all my friends have their periods but I don't have mine yet?  Why do I have to be so short?  Why don't my breasts grow?  Superficial?... not when you are an adolescent and trying to be just like everyone else.  So I couldn't bear to have a daughter grow up with a clitoris so large it was mistaken for a penis.  What type of agony would she go thru at 12?

To all of you that I have offended- I am sorry.  I know this is a very controversial subject and most people have a very strong opinion, either one way or the other.  I  chose surgery, but not blindly.  I asked the surgeon exactly what he was going to do to my daughter and all the possible outcomes.  We (my husband and I) did research and questioned everyone we could about this procedure.  We checked out our surgeon and made sure that he was competent and skilled with vaginoplasty and clitoroplasty.  Was the surgery a success?  We will know in about 18 years.  Does she have sensation in the clitoral area?  Yes, she appears to have at least some sensation. Is it the same as she would have had before surgery?  Those questions cannot be answered.  I did what I felt was best for my daughter, both physically and psychologically.