Sir, – I was surprised by the ignorance displayed in the comments on sex reassignment surgery made by Fine Gael TD Brian Walsh (Home News, September 14th).
He claims that “a body of opinion within the medical profession” considers surgery inappropriate. In fact, all the major standards of care recognise that sex reassignment surgery is medically necessary and medically indicated in many cases of gender identity disorder. It has been proven to be effective, and it is not “cosmetic”, as he claims.
He asks why the procedures are not provided within the State if the surgery is medically necessary. Again, a basic familiarity with the subject would answer this question. Because of the highly specialised nature of the procedure, only a small number of surgeons can perform it, meaning travel is often required to avail of the surgery.
I suggest that Mr Walsh should leave medical decisions to the medical professionals, or at least make some attempt to familiarise himself with the relevant research in this area. – Yours, etc,