New Zealand Lifts Cap on Number of Gender Confirmation Surgeries Performed Each Year
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced her government will lift the cap on the number of gender confirmation surgeries performed each year, Newsroom reports.
Currently the government only allows three male-to-female and one female-to-male operations to be publicly funded each year. Ardern has said the new plan will instead turn that cap number into a minimum target, with no maximum cap set.
There are 105 people on the wait list for gender confirmation surgery in New Zealand at the moment – 79 trans women and 26 trans men. Those currently on the list face a decade-long wait as there is only one surgeon trained to perform male-to-female surgeries, and no one trained for female-to-male.
“I am pleased to be taking action on lifting a cap limiting the numbers of gender affirming surgeries taking place,” said James Shaw, Acting Associate Health Minister. “Our health system has never met the needs of transgender New Zealanders, and that has to change.”
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