Transgender New Zealanders face 30-year wait for reassignment surgery after country's only specialist retires

'There are a lot of depressed trans people out there, wanting to move forward with their lives but unable to'

There are no cosmetic surgeons in New Zealand qualified (Getty)

Transgender New Zealanders may have to wait up to 30 years for reassignment surgery after the last remaining practitioner retired.

Cosmetic surgeon Dr Jimmy Walker, now in his 70s, spent the last year before his retirement petitioning for someone else to qualify in gender reassignment.

Dr Walker told the Guardian: "It is a very complex surgery and no one wanted to take it up.

"People didn’t have the time, or the inclination, I don’t know. But it is fascinating surgery and fascinating patients – work that truly changes lives."

Dr Walker is still lobbying the government to find his replacement while the waiting list for state-funded surgery has risen to more than 70.

The New Zealand government pays for one female-to-male and three male-to-female surgeries every two years.

Lynda Whitehead, president of the trans advocacy group Agender, described it as a "wretched situation" that would cause a lot of "depressed trans people" to feel stuck and unable to move on with their lives. 

"The last few years have been devastating for the trans community," she said. "All hope of getting the procedure done has been taken away.

"When Dr Walker was practising, the waiting list was long, but it was still possible. Now the backlog will take decades to clear.

"There are a lot of depressed trans people out there, wanting to move forward with their lives but unable to."

The New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons has approached the Ministry of Health to fund two young surgeons to undergo gender reassignment training.

Dr Sally Langley, the association's president, said there is a New Zealand plastic surgeon studying reassignment abroad but has "no idea" when they will be experienced enough to practice it back home.