Australian man sues over transsexual "diagnosis"

An Australian man who was labeled a transsexual by doctors and underwent a sex-change operation before reverting back to living as a man said Tuesday that he is suing public health authorities, according to Agence France-Presse. In what he claims is a first-of-its-kind case, Alan Finch, 37, said he was mistakenly diagnosed as a transsexual when he went for treatment at a transgender clinic affiliated with Melbourne's Monash University at the age of 19. In 1988, at the age of 21, he had a sex-change operation, which involved amputation of his penis and testicles. In 1997 he reverted to living as a man. "In my particular case I was misdiagnosed. I was recommended for surgery without proper case," Finch told AFP. "I have had psychological issues which have been resolved through proper counseling, and I have given up pretending to be a woman." Finch's case comes on the heels of a documentary that aired on Australian television about his transformations. But the lawsuit faces uncertainly given a six-year statute of limitations on such cases. The suit claims unspecified damages for alleged negligence against state public health authority Southern Health and doctors at Monash Medical Centre's gender identity clinic. The case is scheduled for a hearing in the Victorian County Court on October 22, court officials said.