Male Transsexualism: Uneasiness

The author discusses sex reassignment in men. He points out that since 1953, when the procedures were first publicized, attitudes toward granting "sex change" have become increasingly liberal, resulting in a dearth of knowledge about the number of men who have received hormonal or surgical treatment; the frequency of surgical and postoperative complications and of morbidity and mortality; the nature and frequency of psychiatric complications; and the percentage of those treated who have benefited. Believing that sex reassignment should be restricted to the most feminine men, the author urges more scrupulous follow-up studies and more careful consideration of requests for change.