Reports from Medical Express on Jan. 10, explain Sweden has decided to end forced sterilization of transgender people who choose to undergo sex change operations.
The 1972 law required a transgender person to endure involuntary sterilization surgery in order to be legally recognized as their new identity.
The forced sterilization of transgender men and women was officially banned on Jan. 10. After appeals were made by the European Convention on Human Rights, the law was deemed unconstitutional.
Transgender women and men who underwent sterilization procedures in order to have their new identity made official are hoping the state will compensate them for emotional and financial damages they may have endured at the hand of the 1972 law.
The head of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights (RFSL) Ulrika Westerlund commented:
"If lawmakers take the initiative to adopt a law outlining damages, we will not file a lawsuit,”
Sterilization is not a topic to be taken lightly. Many people wrongfully assume that if someone undergoes a sex change they cannot or do not want to have children. This is not the case at all.
Many transgender men and women choose to be parents at one point or another. Depending on where they are in transition from male-to-female or female-to-male, they may be able to conceive their own child.
Sources: Medical Express, Gay Star News
Now, whether others agree with this or not is another story entirely. This is the very topic of debate which sparked the now outdated forced sterilization of transgender people law in the first place.
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