Transgender service member gets gender reassignment surgery
WASHINGTON — An active-duty service member has received gender-reassignment surgery, the Pentagon said Tuesday, amid ongoing debate over whether transgender troops should be allowed to continue to serve in the military,
Defence Department spokeswoman Dana White said the surgery was done Tuesday in a private hospital and was paid for by the military’s health coverage because the doctor deemed it was medically necessary.
“”Military hospitals do not have the surgical expertise to perform this type of surgery, therefore it was conducted in a private hospital,” White said, adding that because this service member “had already begun a sex-reassignment course of treatment, and the treating doctor deemed this surgery medically necessary, a waiver was approved by the director of the Defence Health Agency.”
Army Maj. Dave Eastburn said that waivers are required and routinely approved for medical procedures that military facilities don’t have the expertise to perform.