But GRS is more than just going under the knife to change your genitalia. For many people those physical changes go hand in hand with a total transformation, Dr. Ting says. "No amount of pain you go through with surgery can measure up to the mental pain you feel on a daily basis," says Mahogany Phillips, 49, a transgender woman in New York City. "GRS helps a trans person be able to look at themselves in the mirror, that's something cisgender people take for granted," she says. Phillips says she spent many sleepless nights researching whatever information she could find online about the surgery and watching YouTube videos of people who had transitioned: "I felt like I was making a stew, and I just wanted to put it all together; I discounted nothing because I knew every experience would be different."