The HSE has approved over 200 Irish residents to undergo ‘sex-change’ surgery abroad over the past nine years.
This cost the state over 600,000 euro and the procedures were mainly carried out in the UK and Germany.
Gender reassignment surgery is not available in Ireland, but can be carried out abroad under the HSE’s treatment abroad scheme.
This involves procedures to change a patient’s appearance, such as surgical reconstruction of genitilia.
Between 2012 and 2020, 211 people were approved to have gender reassignment surgery carried out under the scheme.
The Transgender Equality Network Ireland is calling for the state to make the surgery available here as soon as possible.
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