A devastated young transgender woman says she has been left 'disfigured and feeling like a freak' following two botched gender reassignment operations.

Kia, 26, from Wales, says she was forced to seek private treatment after the NHS procedures left her in near-constant pain and with her urethra permanently exposed, which she says means she is unable to have sex or urinate properly.

She says doctors also failed to inform her she had effectively been 'castrated' by the operations - as the procedures have left her with limited sensation.

The 26-year-old, who is suffering from anxiety, says she is still a virgin, has never had a boyfriend, and is desperate to lead a 'normal life'.

'I feel like a freak. I feel like I have been disfigured,' she told FEMAIL.

Male to female reassignment surgery sees the testicles and most of the penis removed and the urethra shortened. The skin of the penis is then inverted and used to create a vagina.

In some procedures a neoclitoris is also created using skin from the tip of the penile glans which allows for sensation - this was not done correctly in Kia's case.

Immediately after the first surgery, Kia claims she went back to the hospital with her complaints but was told she would have to wait nine months for a revision because her original surgeon was on maternity leave.

After she did undergo a second operation, Kia says she was left in agonising pain when her stitches burst open.

Pictured, Kia, who is using a different name to protect her identity, says she has gone through hell since she had gender reassignment surgery

After the second operation, Kia contacted plastic surgeon Christopher Inglefield of London Transgender Surgery, who specialises in gender reassignment, to help.

He told Kia that her surgery results were among the worst he has ever seen, because any possibility of erogenous sensation was removed at the time of her first operation.

Mr Inglefield said: 'Obviously, the results of male to female surgery can vary from patient to patient - but anything that doesn't resemble aesthetically normal female external genitalia can have serious implications on someone's lifestyle.

'Gender reassignment is already a very sensitive issue, and in Kia's case has been made worse by the outcome of her surgery.

He explained that Kia was 'not provided with a clitoral reconstruction which is the standard of care expected'.

GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERY STATISTICS Sex changes on the NHS became a right in July 1999 after the Appeal Court ruled that those who believed they were born into the wrong body were suffering from a legitimate illness. In 2014 there were 172 sex operations on the NHS - double the 83 of a decade earlier - costing taxpayers at least £2million. Gender reassignment surgery costs around £10,000 on the NHS. Imperial College of London state that as of 13 December 2017, there are 244 patients on the list for surgery. There are 81 patients actively attending outpatient clinics or awaiting surgery, and 163 are under the Trust's care but not ready for surgery immediately. NHS England announced they have invested an additional £6.5m in gender identity services in this financial year (2017). Sources: Imperial College of London, NHS Advertisement

Mr Inglefield has advised Kia that further revision surgery is possible to improve her female genital appearance and function, enabling her to live a full and contented life - but it will come at a cost.

No trust in the NHS

Kia, who is using a different name due to the sensitive nature of her plight, has told the hospital that she feels she can no longer trust them to carry on with her procedures but has not lodged an official complaint with the NHS.

A spokesperson for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: 'We are sorry to hear of the concerns raised by this patient following surgery at our Trust.

'As with any surgical procedure, complications can arise, and this is discussed with patients prior to the surgery taking place as part of their consent process.

'We encourage the patient to get in touch with us directly so that we can address her concerns and discuss next steps.'

A Welsh Government spokesperson added: 'We cannot comment on individual clinical matters, however… We will also raise the matter with the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee that commissions this service for people in Wales.'

A desperate Kia sought help from a private doctor in the hope they can fix the problems she has had since the botched surgery (Stock image)

Bullying and anxiety

Kia, who first saw a doctor at 16 and had her first appointment at a gender identity clinic in London when she was 21, is struggling to leave her home as a result of increasing levels of anxiety, a problem that forced her to drop out of university in her late teens.

WHAT IS MALE TO FEMALE REASSIGNMENT? Male to female gender reassignment surgery is a far less costly and far more successful procedure than the female to male procedure. In the surgery, the testicles and most of the penis are removed while the urethra is shortened. The skin of the penis is then inverted and used to create a vagina. In some procedures a neoclitoris is also created with that skin from the tip of the penile glans which allows for sensation. The prostate meanwhile is not removed during the surgery, though it does shrink because of the hormones that are taken during the transition process. After the surgery, patients tend to spend three days in the hospital and must not do any strenuous activities for two weeks. Initial recovery time can be between four and six weeks for most patients, and after 12 weeks the patient is usually fully recovered. Some surgeons recommend dilation should be performed by the patient multiple times a day for at least 12 weeks after the surgery for 15 minutes at a time, and at least once a week after that for the rest of their life. At 12 weeks, the patient should be able to have sex again and in most cases those who have had the surgery report that they are able to experience orgasms. Bleeding, swelling and vaginal discharge are among the common side effects after surgery. Advertisement

She has also became the target for taunts in her small town. 'It's not something I have control over,' she said.

'I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. It's made my life very, very hard. I don't have a good quality of life.

'I'm 26 and I've never had a proper boyfriend. I'm still a virgin. I have not been able to find anyone.

'I want a normal life. I'm not a strange person. I'm not a sexual deviant or anything like that. I just want to have a normal life and get on with things.

'I'm a quiet person, I keep myself to myself. I have a job, I come back, play on the PlayStation. I'm not an exhibitionist or anything like that.

'I knew something was wrong'

Kia admit she feels like a 'shell' of her former self and worries she is 'too damaged' to be able to fully recover.

After Kia went under the knife for the first time, it was during her recovery she said something 'just felt wrong'.

'For something that I'd had to wait so long for, and had come at such a cost, I'd had to jump through so many hoops.

'About three months into the healing process, I realised something wasn't right.

'It didn't look right, it didn't feel right, it was painful. I emailed a picture, but they told me it was still healing.

'There were things that were there that shouldn't have been there. Stuff that you couldn't pass off as swelling.

'I told [the hospital] that I really needed to come in, and they said I would have to see the surgeon who performed the operation - but she was on maternity [leave] for nine months.'

Surgery revision

Kia says she was forced to wait - but that when she eventually got a revision on June 14 this year, nothing changed.

She added: 'I had two weeks off work - and after that time I realised that nothing was different. It was exactly the same.'

The night after her revision by her original surgeon in June, her stitches burst in the night and then again shortly afterwards on the train home.

'I can't have sex. It just cannot accommodate anything. During arousal it just completely swells and blocks the entrance - the opposite of what it's supposed to do.

'My urethra is just completely exposed. There is nothing covering it so it's constantly painful and sore.

'I explained all of this to the surgeon. But nothing had been changed.'

Kia claims that the surgeon who performed the two operations has since apologised and said that she wished she 'had enough experience to help properly' (Stock image)

During a decade of treatment, Kia claims to have been 'passed around' without being given the guidance she needed.

She said: 'I went to the doctor at 16 because I'd been depressed and attempted suicide, but they wouldn't prescribe me antidepressants.

'My GP wasn't really informed, and didn't really know what to do, so they sent me to a mental health youth team at hospital, who then sent me off to an LGBT group.

'They said they hadn't actually encountered anyone like me before, so they just gave me some leaflets. I was a bit at a loss, being passed around.'

'My life has been ruined'

Kia claims that the surgeon who performed the two operations has since apologised and said that she wished she 'had enough experience to help properly'.

'As glad as I was for her that she'd been able to get more experience over the past two years, I just would have preferred it if it wasn't me that she'd been able to practise on.

'Two years ago, it ruined my life.'

And after sending pictures to doctors, she was told if she kept comparing herself to other people she was 'never going to be happy'.

'I don't have a good quality of life. When I was younger, I feel like I did have some hope,' she said.

'I used to look forward and plan things. But I feel like a shell of a person, apathetic to everything.

'There is no joy, I don't feel like I'm living, just existing. Everything I might have been looking forward to, I feel like it has been sucked out of me.'