Australia's only sex-change clinic has been closed temporarily and its director forced to quit following allegations that patients with psychiatric issues have been misdiagnosed as transgender and encouraged to have gender reassignment surgery, reports The Age newspaper. At least eight former patients of the Gender Dysphoria Clinic at Melbourne's Monash Medical Centre believe they may have been misdiagnosed and some have tried to take their own lives after irreversible gender reassignment surgery was carried out without proper psych testing. But the clinic's Psychiatrist Dr Trudy Kennedy, 73, claims she has been singularly blamed after three former patients pressed legal action. "They just want to blame it all on me. I have not made one single decision here, they are all team decisions," she said. Sally Goldner, of Transgender Victoria, told the newspaper she was aware of some cases of misdiagnosis around gender dysphoria but believes most patients are happy with their gender reassignment treatment. Discuss this article on GayNZ.com's Forum here.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 2nd June 2009 - 9:55am