Meet Dr. Boonipat

Dr. Thanapoom Boonipat, M.D. is a fellowship-trained facial and maxillofacial surgeon. He graduated from plastics surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, MN, which has been ranked the No.1 hospital in the nation and the world for multiple years in a row. While there, he had extensive involvement in performing transgender surgeries and taking care of the transgender population. He is an active WPATH member. With his fellowship training in jaw contouring and ethnic rhinoplasty, he especially qualified to perform facial feminization transgender vaginoplasty surgery.  

Dr. Boonipat grew up in Bangkok, Thailand, and was sent to a boarding school in the US when he was 13 years old. He then completed his undergraduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Biomedical Engineering and went on to medical school at Dartmouth in NH 

He has had an interest in art ever since he can remember. He pursues Chinese painting seriously and has sold paintings for charities and has won numerous competitions. He found plastic surgery to be the perfect combination of medicine, art, and technology.  

His experience in complex facial reconstruction and aesthetics at the Mayo Clinic led him to pursue this interest further by doing a craniomaxillofacial fellowship at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan, one of the premier hospitals for jaw surgery and bony contouring for both aesthetics, feminization facial surgery and functional airway correction. He has significant experience in ethnic rhinoplasty.  

Dr. Boonipat offers the following gender affirming surgeries: 

-Facial Feminization 

-Facial masculinization  

-Transgender vaginoplasty 

 We will work with your insurance providers to cover as much of the costs as possible. 

Requirements for Facial and Bottom Gender Affirming Surgery

Dr. Lawton does not require letters for gender affirming TOP surgery 

As of June 25, 2024, the Standards of Care (SOC) 8 from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) require only one assessment letter from a qualified healthcare professional for gender-affirming surgery bottom and Facial surgery. This provider must be equipped to care for transgender and gender-diverse individuals and can be either a medical or mental health professional with at least a master’s degree. If the provider is out-of-network for the patient’s insurance, they might need to provide a referral letter. 

The letter should include: 

• The patient’s legal and preferred names; and date of birth 
• The start date of the patient-provider relationship and frequency of contact 
• A statement confirming the patient’s well-documented diagnosis of gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder 
• Evidence that the patient has lived in a gender role aligned with their identity for at least 12 consecutive months 
• Confirmation that the patient has managed any substance use, including alcohol, nicotine(including vaping) or marijuana, for at least six months before surgery.