The number of sex change operations in Sweden has tripled in the past 13 years.
Last year, 48 people in Sweden applied to change gender after
undergoing therapy to confirm that they belonged psychologically to the
opposite sex. This compared to only 16 applications ten years ago. A
total of 600 Swedes have changed sex.
"It's hard to know why more people are applying for sex changes," said
Cecilia Dhejne, consultant at a centre for gender reassignment therapy
at the Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge.
"It could be that the condition is becoming more common for reasons we
do not know. But it could be that it has become more well-known, which
means that more people who identify themselves as transgendered realise
that they can get help."
Gender identity disorder is now widely accepted as a medical condition.
"It's not some little whim that people get. The current hypothesis is
that it is something biological and that social and psychological
factors don't play any role," Dhjene said.
But scientists still don't know exactly why some people feel trapped in
the wrong body, and feel that their genitals are a deformity that need
to be corrected.
"It would be great if we could use blood tests or x-rays to decide if
someone was the wrong sex. But currently we have to carry out
evaluations, and most patients feel the evaluations are a kind of
extended suffering, in which we question them instead of giving them
support."
In order to be allowed to change sex, the applicant has to be over 18
and a Swedish citizen. They may not be married and must also be
sterilized or for other reasons be unable to reproduce.
People who have been diagnosed as transsexual then have to go through a
trial period of least one year, living in the new gender. Hormone
therapy and other treatments can often then start.
At this point people often have plastic surgery on the face and
breasts. Only after the trial year can the evaluation team approve an
application to change sex.
After the surgery the person can apply for official documents to be changed to take note of their new gender.
Source: thelocal.se
