17 gender-affirming surgeries at Mater Dei Hospital in five years

Mater Dei Hospital carried out 17 gender-affirming surgeries since 2020, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela told parliament last week.

According to data tabled in the House of Representatives, three people had an orchiectomy—removal of testicles—while 13 individuals had their breast removed, known in medical terms as a mastectomy. One other individual had their uterus removed; a surgical intervention known as hysterectomy.

Abela was replying to a question by Nationalist MP Graziella Attard Previ, who sought clarification on the type of gender-affirming surgeries offered by the public hospital.

The minister said the gender-affirming surgeries currently offered at Mater Dei Hospital also included breast enhancement.

Gender-affirming surgery is performed to give transgender individuals the physical appearance and functional abilities of the gender they identify with.

From the parliamentary reply it transpires that the public hospital does not offer transfeminine bottom surgery, intended to reconstruct the male genitalia into female genitalia. Neither does it offer transmasculine bottom surgery, intended to reconstruct the female genitalia into male genitalia.

Abela said all patients are assessed by a multi-disciplinary team before undergoing any of the surgical procedures.

In December last year, when replying to another parliamentary question, Abela said the Gender Clinic had received 505 referrals and 377 patients had undergone their first assessment.

The Gender Wellbeing Clinic was opened in 2018 and it provides psychological support, and offers endocrinological and gynaecological services, apart from gender-affirming surgery.

In 2015, the Maltese parliament passed the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act, which allowed individuals aged 16 and over to self-identify by making a declaration in front of a notary. No proof of surgical intervention is required to carry out this legal procedure. The assumed gender is then reflected on official documents.