Over 500 female births with male organs in SL
Corrective surgery available now:
Nadira GUNATILLEKE
Around 500 female infants with male sexual organs are born every
year, a Health Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
“These children and their parents face social and psychological
problems due to the unclear biological sexual status of the children. A
surgery can make them a complete female without any defect,” the
spokesman said.
“Two foreign doctors and a Sri Lankan doctor operated on an
eight-year-old girl at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital yesterday and changed
her into a complete female,” the spokesman said.
Paediatricians were able to watch the surgery over wide screen.
“It is very costly and complicated to perform this surgery at a later
stage when the child becomes an adult. Many prefer to live with the
defect but lead very problematic lives. Once they grow up, they face
numerous social and psychological problems due to their unclear sexual
identity. The operation will solve all these problems,” the spokesman
said.
“The three doctors also performed an esophageal replacement surgery
on a two-year-old.
It has not taken food or drink orally since the last two years
because it only had a part of the food passage. The toddler had been fed
intravenously. Now the toddler can drink and eat like any other ordinary
child. The doctors used a part of its bowels and constructed the food
passage.
Lady Ridgway Hospital Director Dr. Ratnasiri Hewage stated that the
hospital offers free surgeries for infants and toddlers with similar
defects. ”Facilities for surgeries are available at the hospital,” he
said. Dr. A. Bianchi from Manchester, Dr. Saoji from India, Dr. S.P.
Hennayake, Dr. U. Samarakkody, Dr. Dharma Sri Jayawardene and Dr. Ananda
Lamahewage were among the team of specialist doctors who conducted the
surgeries.
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