Pediatrics hospital gets transgender surgery permission

The Hanoi-based National Hospital Pediatrics has become the second hospital in the country allowed to perform transgender surgeries.

The Hanoi-based National Hospital Pediatrics has become the second hospital in the country allowed to perform transgender surgeries. 

A man named Pham Van Hiep after transgender surgery in Thailand

HCM City-based Children’s Hospital 2 received permission from the Ministry of Health in February, Head of the Ministry’s Legal Affairs Department Nguyen Huy Quang has revealed. 

He said that redefining gender by medical intervention was only allowed for people who had birth defects of the sex organs, which made it unclear whether they were a girl or a boy; in a case of unidentified gender caused by genetic mutation. 

The hospital is prohibited from surgically redefining the gender of a person based solely on psychological factors, Quang said. 

Statistics show that one person in every 11,000 had a birth defect of the sex organs, he said. 

The Vietnam-Germany Hospital in Hanoi is expected to be the next hospital to get permission for the procedure.