For transgender and nonbinary patients, choosing a top surgery surgeon can be a life changing decision. For this reason, finding skilled top surgery surgeons with expertise and sensitivity in serving the LGBTQ+ community is critically important.
If you’re considering having surgery to contour or masculinize your chest, listed below are world-class top surgery surgeons with extensive experience in this procedure.
Leading Top Surgery Surgeons in the U.S.
Gender confirmation surgeries in the United States are on the rise. For this reason, it is more important than ever to make information on top surgeries accessible and informative.
To assist with this, below are profiles for 14 of the most experienced and skillful top surgery surgeons in the U.S. today.
Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher
Dr. Gallagher has brought a patient-centered service to the Miami area with her expertise in top surgeries that are safe and natural-looking.
Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and in partnership with the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, Dr. Gallagher is highly regarded when it comes to life-changing body confirmation surgeries.
Unlike many plastic surgeons who offer a diverse range of services, Dr. Gallagher’s practice exclusive serves LGBTQ+ patients, with a focus on gender affirming top surgeries. Given her expertise in this field, she is also the author of Affirmed: An Inclusive Guide to Medical and Surgical Transition, which you can grab here.
Plus, she has a highly entertaining and informational Instagram account that you should check out. It features hundreds of before and after photos of patient results and she uses it to answer common top surgery questions.
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If you’re seeking a popular surgeon who is a great advocate for and who exclusively serves the LBGTQ+ community, then Dr. Gallagher is an excellent choice.
Dr. Daniel Medalie, MD
Performing top surgery since 1996, Dr. Medalie is one of the most sought-after top surgeons in the United States. His results are natural-looking and consistent. His expertise makes him a leader of top surgery results in the transmasculine community in the Cleveland Bay area.
Dr. Medalie does all three of the most common types of female-to-male and nonbinary top surgeries, which are keyhole, periareolare, and double incision top surgery. Given that he has 25 years of experience, patients come from all over the world to get treatment.
If you are seeking an highly experience top surgery surgeon with an LGBTQ+ sensitive team, then Dr. Medalie would be a perfect choice.
Dr. Charles Garramone
Dr. Charles Garramone is another extremely well known top surgery surgeon in the U.S. He is a Board Certified Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon, as well as a Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons.
Dr. Garramone is unique in that his practice exclusive services the female-to-male transgender and nonbinary communities and he offers only a single surgical approach, double incision top surgery. Given this focus, he performs hundreds of these surgeries per year and is skillful at it.
Dr. Garramone calls his female-to-male transgender chest surgery “GenSculpt™ FTM Top Surgery®”. He also offer a body masculinization procedure that he has termed “ManSculpture®”.
As mentioned, Dr. Garramone only offers double incision top surgery, which for moderate and larger chested individuals, is typically the recommended surgery. Smaller chested individual may choose this surgery as well if they are interested to control nipple size and placement.
However, for smaller chested individuals who are seeking keyhole or periareolar top surgery, Dr. Garramone will not be a match. He has a popular Instagram that you can follow here.
Dr. Kathy Rumer
Dr. Rumer is a board-certified top surgeon who performs over 150 top surgeries a year. She is located in the Philadelphia tri-state area and performs at Rumer Cosmetics. Dr. Rumer is an expert in her field. She gives focus to creating for her patients a natural-looking, masculine chest.
Dr. Rumer does all three of the most common types of female-to-male and nonbinary top surgeries, which are keyhole, periareolare, and double incision top surgery. She also serves male-to-female patients and has extensive expertise in vaginoplasty procedures.
Dr. Rumer is a great advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and a popular surgeon, particularly for patients located on the East Coast. You can explore her Instagram account here.
Dr. Scott W. Mosser, MD, FACS
Dr. Scott Mosser is a certified and award-winning top surgery surgeon. Dr. Mosser offers incredible results with personalized services provided by him and his staff in the San Francisco area. Dr. Mosser is a co-founder of the American Society of Gender Surgeons.
He is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgeons and serves as the Medical Director of the Gender Institute at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital. Dr. Mosser is a member of WPATH, and co-chair of the Surgery and Beyond professional conference.
For transgender and nonbinary patients located on the West Coast, Dr. Scott Mosser is one of the most popular options.
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Dr. Joel Beck, MD, FACS
Dr. Joel Beck has been performing FTM top surgery since 2003. He is the most experienced top surgeon in his state of North Carolina. Dr. Beck is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
He is also board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
While Dr. Beck does not exclusively serve the LGBTQ+ community, it represents a large part of his practice. He has a popular Instagram account that you can explore here.
Dr. John Whitehead, DO
Dr. Whitehead is a protégé of Dr. Harold Reed, a leader in the top surgeon community for decades until his recent retirement. Dr. Whitehead services the Florida area. He is board-certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery.
As a gay man himself, Dr. Whitehead understands the significance of access to a safe space and respectful healthcare.
His practice, which he shares with two other skillful surgeons, is called Restore Transgender Transformations. Drs. Whitehead, Ramirez and Quintero are highly regarded top surgery surgeons.
They also have an established an accredited on-site operating center that reduces the cost of surgery compared to hospital-based surgeries. If you are seeking a top surgery surgeon who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, then Dr. Whitehead would be a great choice.
Dr. Josef Hadeed, MD, FACS
Located in both Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida, Dr. Hadeed is a board-certified Plastic Surgeon. Dr. Hadeed completed his plastic surgery residency at the well-respected and coveted Duke University.
Dr. Hadeed performs three types of Top Surgery: Double incision with nipple grafts, keyhole, and peri-areolar.
Dr. Manish Champaneria, MD
Based in the San Diego, California area, Dr. Champaneria offers Top Surgery for trans and non-binary patients. He gives a special focus on reconstructive chest surgery based on his extensive training and experience.
Dr. Champaneria specializes in the following types of top surgery: Double incision with nipple grafts, inverted-T, keyhole, and peri-areolar.
You can connect with him on Instagram here.
Dr. Mark Youssef, MD
Both a cosmetic surgeon and the Director of the Transgender Surgery Institute of Southern California, Dr. Youssef services the Santa Monica Drive area. Dr. Youssef specializes in serving transgender men and gender-nonconforming clients in the Los Angeles area. He focuses on making their transition a smooth and seamless process.
With the help of his trans-friendly staff, Dr. Youssef is a highly qualified top surgery surgeon.
He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery and is also board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, a Fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, and the American Society of Cosmetic Breast Surgery.
Dr. Michael Beckenstein, MD, FACS
Dr. Beckenstein is one of the best and most experienced surgeons in the entire state of Alabama. Dr. Beckenstein operates out of Birmingham, Alabama and has over 15 years of experience in top surgery procedures. Dr. Beckenstein helps clients who are looking to masculinize their bodies.
He specializes in the following female-to-male and nonbinary top surgeries: keyhole, peri-areolar, double incision with nipple grafts, and body sculpting. He also specializes in transgender hair restoration.
Dr. Curtis Crane, MD
A board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Crane operates out of Austin Texas. He is remarkably trained in both plastic surgery and urology. Dr. Crane has performed gender surgery since 2005.
He has worked alongside one of the most revered gender surgeons in the world; Dr. Stan Monstrey in Belgium.
Dr. Crane performs top surgery in Austin, Texas at The Hospital at Westlake Medical Center and Westlake Hills Surgery Center.
Dr. Ashley N. DeLeon, MD, FACS
After gaining vast experience by specializing in breast surgery, Dr. DeLeon converted her specialty to top surgery having maintained an interest in transgender surgery throughout her career.
Interestingly, she completed advanced fellowship training in gender-affirming procedures with Dr. Curtis Crane (listed above). Shortly after, she joined the Crane Center for Transgender Surgery in Austin, Texas.
Dr. DeLeon is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery. She is also a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Dr. Gerhard S. (“Sol”) Mundinger, MD, MBA,
Dr. Mundinger is a board-certified plastic surgeon and member of the World Professional Organization for Transgender Health (WPATH).
He founded the NOLA Transgender Institute in 2018 to help improve access to gender-affirming care in New Orleans and the Gulf South.
In 2021, he transitioned his practice to Austin, Texas, joining the Crane Center for Transgender Surgery to focus exclusively on gender affirming surgeries.
Across his career, he has been a tremendous advocate for transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive patients.
The Best Top Surgery Surgeons, Period
Like all surgeries, top surgery has a few risks, so it’s important to find a qualified plastic, cosmetic, and reconstructive surgeon with extensive experience.
In particular, increasing access to specialized information and resources is a fundamental step in making top surgery an exciting part of someone’s transitional journey.
Which of these top surgery surgeons caught your eye, or if you’ve had surgery, who performed your procedure? Are there more top surgery surgeons who deserve to be added? Let us know in comments below.
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