A male patient planned and achieved sex-reassignment surgery which subsequently proved to have been performed prematurely. Postoperatively, the patient experienced a sudden change of conviction and was confronted with the realization that he could not live as a woman. Threatened by suicide, he finally found a resolution to his dilemma by reverting to the male role. Similar mistakes in the future can be avoided if patients are required to rehabilitate in the new gender role prior to the irreversible step of genital surgery.