
4.9 | 30 verified patient reviews
IM CLINIC is the most innovative aesthetic and reconstructive surgery centre in Europe, a world pioneer and expert in Gender reassignment surgeries. The medical team of our Plastic Surgery Unit combines professionalism, specialised medical knowledge and experience as well as a great artistic capacity to get optimal results with more than 20 years of experience.
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I had both a Colo-Vaginoplasty (GCS/SRS) and Facial Feminisation Surgery (FFS) at IM Clinic in Barcelona. Both procedures were performed on the same day, it is a lot of work for one session.I was 49 at the time of the surgeries. I live in Taiwan and flew to Barcelona specifically to access the services of Dr. Manero and his team. I have had minimal access to medical services during my transition. I work internationally, government waiting lists are a joke almost everywhere in the world and I am not in one country long enough to even begin the process. As such, I was nervous about this final step, about accessing it, where to go and who to trust.In Spain, you do not need letters from psychiatrists to prove you are not insane for being transgender. You need to establish that you have been on HRT for at least a year and for the surgical team to have confidence in you.Dr. Manero has performed around 2,500 vaginoplasty procedures. He also has a reputation for rebuilding poor quality work by other clinics around the world.The combination of the low barriers of entry and this exceptional reputation gave me confidence for probably the most important investment in my life.I was allocated a case manager who arranged all details to ensure a seamless experience. She initially arranged a video consultation while I was still in Taiwan with Dr. Manero. He addressed all questions kindly and authoritatively. I felt he was a kind and highly motivated professional that put patients first.I was admitted to the clinic the day before the procedure. You are given strict guidelines on a "low residue" diet for a week before the procedure, not fun, and then this fleet enema process, which cleans you out. I did this sat on the floor under the shower over a few hours. It made it just about manageable, it was probably the worst part of the whole thing. Be warned.The morning of the procedure you are prepared and then taken to the operating theatre. My next memory is of waking up about 12 hours later in some pain, not out of control, but significant. This was swiftly brought under control. There is then 3 days of forced bedrest. Believe me, during this period you don't even want to move. You hover between a little pain, discomfort, tiredness, generally just trying to keep relaxed and wait it out. Nurses regularly come to check and you are provided with a wrist watch buzzer that can summon assistance at a moment's notice.So, yes, it is serious. The whole thing is serious, but the clinic manages you through the process well. The outcome of both my FFS and vaginoplasty are beyond my wildest dreams. The skill, genius and proficiency of the entire team is beyond description. My FFS has already almost completely healed at a visible level. It will continue for months, but imperceptibly. Unfortunately, with the vaginoplasty I did have some sutures split on the outside, this happened about 10 days after the procedure. It is a standard complication, it doesn't happen a lot, but it can happen. Either way, this was picked up in my final check up and I was scheduled for an emergency repair a few days later.In general though, healing has been good and at no time has pain been beyond something I could handle.With the FFS, for the first time in my life I no longer see the ghost of a man staring back at me. I still look like me, but I look like me as a woman. It is uncanny. I have had so many compliments already. That alone was worth everything.As for the vaginoplasty, it is a slow healing process, but now I am starting to explore and it looks and feels exactly as I would have hoped. I am getting clear indications of sensitivity in the right places. The shape, the structures, the components, all of it, to me, it is beautiful. I am impatient to heal enough to really enjoy living as myself for the first time.So, the surgical team, miracle workers. Genuinely. For me, it feels like they performed two miracles on me. The discomfort passed quickly enough and the healing continues, but the results are legendary. THANK YOU!For the first several days you are completely immobile. You are 100% dependent on the nurses. They kept me clean, they kept my pain well under control. They were kind, gentle, affectionate, professional and at no time did I feel neglected.I felt they genuinely cared and there was good continuity between shift changes. The nursing definitely reflected the quality of the surgery.The environment is clean, modern, but warm and inviting. Each patient has a private room. Mine had a panoramic view over the gardens and was a beautiful sight to wake up to each day. Okay, there are a few things to be careful about. The clinic is very busy, while I was in recovery it did not feel busy or rushed, but as you recover there is definitely pressure on resources. And the recovery cycle feels steep and challenging, so when it comes to being discharged you may not feel ready. Believe me, they know when you are ready, and they know if you are not. So, discharge did come as a bit of a shock. However, within a few days of being out and in a privately rented apartment and starting to eat normally again, my recovery process gathered momentum.Stay in a good hotel for a few weeks, stay somewhere clean with good washroom and shower facilities, ensure you have easy access to a pharmacy, food and have people around you if at all possible, who will care for you a little. This makes a massive difference.Dr Manero and his team are the gold standard. There is a premium to pay, but from my experience, it is worth every cent, worth saving up for, worth investing in. Even if it means you have to wait another year or two until you can afford it, I would rather put myself in their hands than anyone else's. Love the doctors and nurses there. I felt completely in safe hands, I feel like a newly born woman, better than I ever dared hope for.
Dear Kim, Thank you for these kinds words!. We're so thrilled you are so happy!!!. As you mentioned it was a major surgery and the post operative is not always a "walk in the clouds". That is why we always recommend you come with someone to help you the days after the surgery, as you did. You put your mind and soul into it. We wish you a wonderful recovery vacation in Europe and a great trip back to Taiwan!. Anything you need, you have my WhatsApp and we are here for you!. You are part of IM Family now! :) Warmest regards, Aida
This clinic and my experience here was incredible. I was so impressed with the facilities. The clinic is owned by the surgeon Dr. Ivan Manero, with the consultation, operating rooms and recovery rooms all in one beautiful building. I had facial feminisation surgery (brow bossing, hairline lowering, rhinoplasty, septoplasty), and the treatment I received was first class, i was made to feel like a princess the whole time.Dr. Manero and Dr. Herrera were very knowledgeable, and the staff very friendly. As a non-Spanish speaker i was made to feel welcome, and lots of the staff understand English. Its normal to feel a bit anxious about travelling to a different country for surgery, but i was given daily, 24 hour support from the clinic, i couldn't have asked for more. They did everything they could to help me.I underwent approximately 8 hours of surgery, and it can be very disorienting to wake up, and not be able to see or breathe through my nose. It was really nice to have my sister nearby when i woke up. You have to be patient with facial feminisation surgery, the results won't truly be seen for 6 months, in which time I'm going to avoid sugar, alcohol and any other inflammatory food. The nurses responded so quickly to any issue i had with pain, and the food was excellant.For personal reasons i had to travel to Spain earlier than planned, and the patient co-ordinator Aida Masdeu was so quick to react and found me accomodation the same day. It's this level of dedication that really impressed me, and reassured me. We also shot an interview, which i was so happy to do. I had my make up applied professionally and was given the opportunity to talk about my favourite subject, which is myself! We spoke about what i expected from the surgery and my experiences of Ivan Manero Clinic. It was a lot of fun to shoot the video, im looking forward to the final cut.Facial feminisation surgery is very important to get right, and they understood my concerns and told me in detail what I should expect from the results. My experience in Barcelona was amazing, and I'm already looking to my follow up consultation in 6 months time. I actually cried out of happiness when i left the clinic, all the nurses came out to say goodbye, i was made to feel valued and appreciated. I'm so glad i chose to come to this clinic
Dear Sophie, We really appreciate you taking the time out to share your experience with us and I agree, Dr Mañero and Herrero are masters in Face feminisation surgeries and as equally important, they truly care about patients needs and expectations. We are so lucky to have had the chance to make you so happy!. Thank you so much for your trust. You definitely made our day when you cried of happiness and loved your excitement every day, you make my job so worth it!. We look forward to seeing you again in 6 months!. I hope this year brings you lots of health and happiness! :) Aida
From the start my enquiries were answered promptly. The clinic was incredibly helpful from start to finish. Waiting lists were very reasonable and they were always very quick to reassure me. I would recommend this to others.
You must be back in Ireland by now Alexis!. Thank you for your kind reply, we're in touch and we wish you a speedy recovery!.
Review from England. Wow - what can I say other than AMAZING. Aida, was fantastic, she helped me from my initial contact about Top Surgery with the clinic to booking my consultations and operation. Her English is incredible and she was patient, knowledgeable and personable and organised every detail. Dr Roberto Herrero - wow, what a lovely man and top surgeon. His passion and pride in his job and his attention to detail put me and my wife at ease from the moment I met him. Whilst I was in recovery, he visited my wife personally and let her know how I was and how the operation went. Having seen my initial results I am extremely happy and excited for the future. He was thorough and has a fantastic bedside manner and will put anyone at ease. The nurses on the ward were incredible, their care and attentive nature kept me in good hands and made me feel safe. So Nuria and team, thank you.
Hi Sam! You made our day with those beautiful words!. You made the process so easy for us all. Please let us know how everything is going with your recovery and P.S. Thanks again for the wine; that was so so thoughtful of you! ;)
As with everything in life, nothing is 100% perfect but my personal experience at the clinic was well worthy of a 5-star rating if not more. Definitely good value for money and I have no regrets.I was recommended IM Clinic by a friend of mine who had her procedure done there and after I did my own research on the clinic I deemed it an appropriate option for me personally.I went in for Genital Gender Confirmation Surgery (Vaginoplasty) as a private patient under the principle of informed consent. In my home country (the UK) we had/have trans care access issues which I believe could benefit from following the example of Spain.My initial contact with IM Clinic was lovely and has excellent English skills but we had some initial confusion over appointments due to me assuming GMT and they assuming CET time zone for the point of reference. There were also other elements of confusion over dates but these were quickly cleared up. These issues could perhaps have been avoided with the use of iCal-based appointments by the Clinic to establish a baseline/tentative schedule for at least some things.The building is very modern with a pristine and spacious reception area with plenty of comfortable seating for patients and their supporting guests. I attended alone and while the supporting staff were brilliant in attending to me, I would still highly recommend bringing someone to help you if you can.My room at the clinic was of 5-star hotel quality with remote controls for all environmental aspects and Chromecast support for the TV easily visible from either the seating or the hospital bed.The view from my room seemingly overlooked the carpark at the entrance with a stunning view of the nearby mountains/hills.The staff were very friendly, caring, and professional and despite my poor Spanish skills we did manage to converse with a little help from online language translators such as Google. I should add that at least some of the staff (including all the doctors/surgeons I interacted with) did speak my native tongue of English.Although initial assessment indicated the Colon doner technique may be required the final surgery performed was the Penile Inversion technique which I am thus far very happy with the results of. Due to the simpler procedure being performed, I received an appropriate refund on the difference very promptly.Aftercare is very good with prompt responses to my e-mails about any concerns I have raised to date from the surgeon that I was in consultation with.There is an emergency number that you can call if there are any serious issues as an outpatient but I have had no cause to use it and I am seemingly on a good trajectory with my recovery (about 4 weeks after admission and back in the UK).As someone who is a bit anal-retentive about details, just being told "Tea colour" for the Betadine/Saline mix did bother me a little but I worked it out to be roughly 1:25 ratio (100mg/ml Betadine, 0.9% Saline) after confirming the colour of a batch I mixed and took with me to my first outpatient appointment.I had some initial confusion over the initial outpatient medication schedule until the in-country pharmacy I used pointed out the times at the top of the printed prescriptions.The provided supplementary English translation of the outpatient treatment/medication instructions had some discrepancies but they were relatively unimportant. A Google Translate translation of the partially Spanish clinic admission form cleared the matter up.I did have an adverse skin reaction to the adhesive tape used to secure the post-op dressing but I must take some of the responsibility for it because I possibly failed to mention a non-medically diagnosed allergy to certain adhesives (possibly silicone-based ones - e.g. the strip at the top of stocking hold-ups). They did however treat the resulting injuries very well and I have no complaints about how this was handled. My advice is to ensure that you do not neglect such seemingly minor details on your admission questionnaire.There are some other matters pending discussion with the Surgeon in our next tele-appointment but I have confidence that they will be appropriately addressed then.
Hi Lenna, Thank you for such detailed honest review and your 5 star rating. It´s been a pleasure having you with us and I miss our interesting conversations ... Having said that, we always give ¨UK time¨ for patients coming from the UK and they never get confused over online consultations. They get confused if they do not change the time in their clocks once they´re in Spain ;) On the other hand, by the data privacy law in Spain we cannot use iCal-based appointments. Our patients emotional wellbeing is as important as their physical wellbeing, 75% of our patients come alone but wear a bracelet to call our nursing team 24/7, and they manage fine, but rooms have a very comfortable convertible large sofa bed for those patients who wish to come with a companion and all meals are provided not just the patient but the companion as well. Regarding prescriptions, our nursing team gives all the medication prescriptions with the the times written on them (one copy is for the patient and the other for the pharmacy). I always recommend that once the patient gets the medication writes the times on the boxes to make things super easy and intuitive. You can always use an alarm on their phone to remind them it´s time to take the meds. these days technology offers many choices when it comes to reminders. Last but not least, all international patients have my WhatsApp number in case they need assistance. I´m here to help you guys in anything you need and make you feel like home and they don´t get ¨rid of me¨when they go home. If you need me, please feel free to call me, whatsApp me, email me as well as the Dr. you can email him or get an online consultation anytime. I wish you a speedy recovery and I´m looking forward to see you soon if you miss us! :)
IM Clinic is absolutely fantastic! Everyone is superb! I do have to make very special mention to Aida - she is the Admin Warrior Princess. The process is long and lots of moving pieces and Aida ensures that everything runs smoothly. When you do walk into the grounds of IM Clinic you just know how safe and secure you are. Then from beginning to end, it all just runs perfectly. It's exactly what you want from a clinic - and I walk away one very very happy lady.
Patients like you make the process and our job so easy!. We are so thrilled we made you feel safe, everything ran smoothly and you're so happy!. Signed: "The Admin Warrior Princess" ;)
I treated myself to a Cosmetic procedure at IM Clinic. Not being able to speak Spanish can be a very difficult experience, but I got friendly and helpful information and advice all explained to be in English. The clinic itself is truly beautiful and the rooms are like staying at a 5-star boutique hotel. The nursing staff are super kind, gentle, patient and understanding. Nothing is too much trouble. They treated me with tender loving care. The doctors and their assistants are very professional and they r all take the time to advise what would be the best option for you. I now look forward to seeing my results in a few months' time.
Thank you for your positive feedback! We are glad you liked the unique and personalised experience we provide!. Have a wonderful start of the year Helen! :)
I am extremely happy with the surgery I had with IM clinic Ivan Mañero. The clinic response were prompt . Living in the UK I sent my pictures to the surgeon for a review and I received a prompt video telephone call. I spoke with the surgeon Dr Rosell who was comprehensive answering all of my questions and addressing all of my concerns. I met Dr Rosell before my surgery and again we discussed my surgery in full details. Dr Rosell is a great listener. The surgery results is excellent it met all of my expectations and more, which I'm so happy with the results. The aftercare was superb just like the pre op care, which was organized by the lovely lady Aida. Aida is fluent in English and is always there a phone call away. She organized everything during my stay including hotel, taxi and PCR test.The clinic feels like a 5 star hotel and all the staff are welcoming and helpful. I will highly recommend to anyone considering surgery with IM clinic Ivan manroe to put your trust in them as they are excellent at cosmetics surgeries.
Dearest Marlona, Myself and the whole IM ClLINIC team were all so touched when we read this!. Thank you very much for your trust and giving such detailed feedback as we always strive to improve. It has been a genuine pleasure to serve as your godmother!. You are part of this family now and you know I'm always on the other side of the line for you! :) P.S. Ice cream noted by the nursing team! ;)
I had my penile inversion vaginoplasty performed by Dr. Labanca in May 2023, and it was the best experience of my life on so many levels. IM Clinic is the place to go to have GRS.I contacted several clinics in August 2022 to plan my GRS in 2023. After some initial communication, I narrowed it down to two clinics, and I selected IM Clinic due to the location (Europe), a competitive price level, good reviews (both online reads and through direct contact with former patients) and the quality of the communication. When you contact the IM Clinic, you get assigned a patient coordinator that follows you through the whole process. In my case, lovely Aida has been my single point of contact from the very beginning, and she is just fantastic in the way she answers all questions, facilitates and coordinates. We used WhatsApp, and it is a really efficient way to communicate. Perhaps my most memorable message from our communication is the message I received as I boarded my flight to Barcelona. I want to have control, and I tend to ask many questions, so the final message I received was just gold for me at that time: “Don't worry about a thing ... chill, you've got enough on your plate”. The whole process before the surgery was really assuring and good. When I arrived at the clinic, I was met by Aida, and she made sure everything was ok and also followed me to my room. And the room, and the clinic in general, really needs to be mentioned. It´s a hotel. That also do surgery. It´s a beautiful place that is made to make you comfortable. And it really does that. After check in, I had a pre-check and was prepared for the surgery the next day. I had my surgery in the afternoon, and everything went well. I spent the next seven days in the clinic to rest and heal, and it was just a beautiful stay and experience, where I was well taken care of by the nurses and all the other friendly staff. Also the food was great, I had no pain, and life really just smiled. On day 5, my best friend came to the clinic and stayed with me. Her stay was included in the price I paid. After checking out from the clinic, I moved into an apartment 5 minute walk from the clinic. I stayed there two more weeks to just relax and continue the healing process. On the last day, I had an appointment with Dr. Labanca to check up on me. Everything looked great and worked as it should, no complications. At the time of this writing, it has been a bit more than two months since my surgery, and I live my daily life more or less as normal. Some new routines of course related to dilating, but that really is no problem. I have just adapted those activities to my life, and it will eventually be a routine that only needs to be done once a week. Also, I still have regular communication and follow-up meetings with Dr. Labanca to check how things are going. That is very good and reassuring, and we will continue to have those meetings for a year. A final note on some important success criteria. Make sure that you are in good physical and mental shape, and also, please follow the instructions you receive from the clinic. So all in all, you are well taken care of through the whole process by a very professional team, the place is beautiful and the surgery result has exceeded my expectations, both in form and function. Highly recommended!
Dear Tone, Thank you for such a detailed review!. This definitely helps to have a more exact idea on what to expect. I'm so touched what I said before you boarded it comforted you, that made my day from the bottom of my heart!. In the name of IM Clinic we're so happy you had such a wonderful experience, and give yourself the credit as you were mentally very prepared, and that's a crucial factor for success!. :)
Had Mastectomy Surgery with IM Clinic, It Luxurious experience, totally recommend. Thanks to the amazing nurses team and special thanks to Rosa who followed up with the whole process and of course Dr Maggie, the first time I spoke to the dr and told her about the results I’m looking to achieve she described how she’s going to achieve the results, which was creative and professional, the results exceeded my expectations, exactly how Dr Maggie described, I had no comments! This surgery changed my life, and the experience as a whole, everything including aftercare massages or any surgery-related necessities were included all in one place, surgery went very smooth pain level didn’t exceed 4/10, super clean clinic, sunny rooms, me and my partner’s stay and meals where included so we didn’t have to worry about getting our own and dietary options are provided. Worth to mention the Dr Maggie was really caring about the results and the clinic was flexible with changing my surgery date, thanks to Rosa! Overall amazing experience.
Dear Fady, Thank you for your kind words and feedback. We are glad to hear that your experience with us has been so rewarding. Every member of our team has a deep commitment to humane treatment and empathy. We strive to treat each person who walks through our doors not only as a patient, but as a unique human being with their own needs and concerns. We are happy to accompany you in the realisation of your dreams and we look forward to continuing to be your trusted clinic, thank you for choosing us! IM CLINIC TEAM
Dr Ivan Mañero
Surgeon
Plastic and Reconstuctive Surgery, Breast Surgery
Dr Ray Gómez
Surgeon
Plastic and Reconstuctive Surgery
Dr Sebastián Rosell
Surgeon
Plastic and Reconstuctive Surgery
Dr Jorge Bonastre
Surgeon
Plastic and Reconstuctive Surgery
Dr Jorge Echevarría
Surgeon
Plastic and Reconstuctive Surgery
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