Psychiatry & Psychology | By December 27, 2008 | By Maria Goddard, MD | 8 Comments

Recognizing the Man in the Mirror

Three short years ago, the first partial face transplantation was performed in France and recently the first of these procedures to be conducted in the United States was successfully accomplished. This was only the fourth operation of its type but experts estimate that perhaps as early as next year the first complete face transplant will be attempted.

It is one thing to receive a donation of an organ such as a heart or liver, which is inside of one’s body and never seen, but quite another to look into the mirror everyday and see someone else’s face. While the underlying bone structure of the affected patient will largely determine the facial construct, the knowledge of the organ’s origins may be too much for some to bear psychologically. Read more →