Sex-reassignment ops in Israel put on hold as waiting list continues to grow

The surgeries were stopped when the only authorized surgeon went on sabbatical, but have remained at standstill even after his return; an American surgeon will fill the gap temporarily next month, but others candidates must keep on waiting - or have the surgery abroad.

By Ido Efrati for Haaretz

In September 2012, Dr. Haim Kaplan, a high-ranking surgeon at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, went on sabbatical. That was more than a year ago. Dr. Kaplan was the only surgeon in Israel who was authorized to perform sex-reassignment surgeries — and since he went on sabbatical, no such operations have been performed in Israel, even though he has since returned. The fact that Israel has one of the world’s highest doctor-to-patient ratios on earth does not change the untenable situation for Israel’s transgender community, and the waiting list for the surgery is only growing longer.

There is no official data on Israel’s transgender community. Nobody knows its size, how many sex-change operations have been performed in Israel over the years or their success rates. The waiting list for the operation comprises between 12 and 20 transgender men and women, who have completed the approval process and are eligible for the operation, according to the Health Ministry’s sex-reassignment committee. But for 14 months, no operations have been performed, mainly because the Health Ministry did not prepare in advance for the temporary departure of the only surgeon in Israel who is authorized to perform them.

Dr. Marci Bowers, a world-renowned expert in sex-change surgery, is due to land in Israel next month. Bowers, who underwent the procedure herself, is scheduled to perform five sex-change operations in Israel and then return to her surgical practice in Trinidad, Colorado, a town that has become known as “the sex-change capital of the world” because of her practice there.

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