A World of Barriers
medical profession described SRS as a
A patient requesting sex
reassignment surgery (SRS) in China
must provide a series of certificates,
including:
“three-no vehicle” (no hospital standards,
no professional standards, no patient
standards) weaving along at top speed.
Without laws and ethics to control its
balance, this vehicle had to rely on doctors’
personal integrity and the profession’s
1) a permit from a public security
bureau showing that the patient
has no criminal record;
2) a certificate from a psychiatrist;
“unwritten rules” to steer it along.223
3) a notarized report from the
patient requesting SRS;
In 2009, the Ministry of Health issued
Reassignment Surgery,” which put China’s
4) a certificate showing that next
of kin have been notified of the
SRS.
SRS on the path of standardization. The
The patient must also:
“(Trial) Management Standards for Gender
broad effect of these standards supports
transgender people’s right to seek and
undergo SRS. 224 It also showed the
government’s understanding of the need to
regulate such procedures. The “Standards”
1) be unmarried;
2) have wanted to change gender
for at least five years;
3) have undergone psychiatric
treatment for at least one year
without being dissuaded.3
strictly designate the qualifications required
for hospitals and medical personnel to carry out SRS. Only hospitals that have had
established plastic surgery departments for at least ten years can offer SRS, and these
hospitals must have ethics committees and experienced technical personnel.225
However, the “Standards” also place strict requirements on patients. A patient
requesting SRS has to provide a series of certificates, including a permit from a public
security bureau showing that the patient has no criminal record, a certificate from
a psychiatrist, a notarized report from the patient requesting SRS, and a certificate
showing that next of kin have been notified of the SRS. The patient must be unmarried,
must have wanted to change gender for at least five years, and must have undergone
psychiatric treatment for at least one year without being dissuaded.226
All of these conditions are problematic and raise issues of the right to a private and
family life, as well as practical implementation issues. Scholars have already argued in
China that requiring married patients to divorce before the procedure violates the rights
223 Zuo Chen, ibid.
224 Tom Mountford, “The Legal Position and Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People in the People’s Republic of China.” March 2010.
225 “(Trial) Management Standards for Gender Reassignment Surgery.”
226 “(Trial) Management Standards for Gender Reassignment Surgery.”
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