Should sex change operations be guided by mental health specialists or psychologists?

The sex change operation or sex change surgery, sex reassignment surgery, transgender surgery, etc. is a radical intervention whose objective is to convert the genitals of one sex to the opposite sex.[1] It can be done by hormonal treatments, by surgical interventions, or both.[2] In cases of modification of genitality, the operations are not reversible.[3] Without neglecting that the decision is entirely personal and respectable, should non-reversible operations be carefully guided by qualified (mental/psychology) professionals? Should there be a base age to carry out these practices?

Sex change operations should be exclusive to the individual, without external interventions

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  •   Pro Based on individual freedom, the choice of sex is ultimately the individual's decision, therefore the operation must be the exclusive decision of the person who wishes to be intervened.
    •   Objection Doctors should have a say in important medical decisions, as doctors have a duty of care to their patients.
    •   Objection As with the right to vote, we all have it but from a certain age, because it is assumed that before that we are not fit for such a decision. The change of sex is just as relevant, therefore, it should be possible to do it only after a certain age.
  •   Con The sex change operation is not something reversible, it is something that lasts for a lifetime. If the person regrets after the operation, even if years pass, he cannot go back. Therefore, they must be deeply advised by professionals and sign a consent regulated by the State.
    •   Objection The state does not need this level of intervention in a person's personal decisions. What people do with their own bodies should be left up to them.
  •   Con Studies show gender dysphoria is often a pathology[4] that is later resolved.[5]

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. "Cambio de género - OPS/OMS | Organización Panamericana de la Salud". www.paho.org. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  2. "Disforia de género - Diagnósticos y tratamientos - Mayo Clinic". www.mayoclinic.org (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  3. "La cirugía de confirmación de género: irreversibilidad y riesgos". contenidos.cirugiaargentina.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  4. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10398562241239478
  5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02817-5