Argentine teen wins court approval for surgery to change gender

A 17-year-old Argentine has won a court battle to undergo surgery to become a female, an operation the teenager hopes can be scheduled within two months.

Ending a three-year legal battle, a court in the central province of Cordoba, authorized the surgery Tuesday, the first decision of its kind involving a minor in Argentina.

In Argentina, the surgery requires court approval because of laws against mutilation.

Medical experts testified that the teenager has a condition called gender dysphoria in which she has a man's body but is psychologically a woman.

A judge in 2004 initially ruled the teenager must wait until age 21, but the parents appealed and persuaded a court panel that without surgery, the teenager's life was at risk.

The teenager has attempted suicide three times, according to her mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her family's privacy. Courts have withheld the teenager's name because she is still a minor.

In the U.S., no court permission is necessary but most doctors are hesitant to operate on minors, said Denise Leclair, executive director of the International Foundation for Gender Education in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Therapy aimed at changing psychological gender identity has proven ineffective, according to most experts, and is not part of the internationally accepted standards of care.

An August court decision in Brazil required the public health system to pay for sex reassignment surgeries. At least eight other countries, including Canada, have similar policies.

But in most of Latin America, the surgery still requires a judge's permission, according to Alejandra Victoria Portadino, legal counsel with the Homosexual Community of Argentina.