Women who have undertaken sex reassignment surgery to become 'men' are being given IVF treatment on the NHS, it has emerged.
At least three women who have undertaken the surgery are "on the brink" of becoming parents using IVF, according to a doctor who works at the UK’s only 'gender identity' clinic.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said the procedure risked upsetting "the natural order".
Egg freezing and surrogate mother
Many women who undergo the surgery choose to freeze their eggs beforehand. In most cases, eggs fertilised via IVF would be transplanted into the womb of a surrogate mother.
In rare cases, a woman who undergoes the surgery but keeps her womb intact may still be able to give birth.
Children would be 'confused'
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali strongly opposed the treatment, saying that children would be "confused by not knowing if the parent is a father or a mother".
In the case of a transgender 'man' parenting a child, the child would most likely be conceived through a sperm donor and born to the surrogate mother (which could be the mother’s partner).
Bishop Michael emphasises the need for children to grow up with their biological mother and father, whenever possible, in his most recent book, Faith, Freedom & The Future: Challenges for the 21st Century.
"Research shows that children are best brought up in families where both a mum and a dad are present. The role of fathers in the nurture of their children is unique and cannot be replaced by other so-called ‘male role models’ or, indeed, an extra 'mother'."
In Faith, Freedom and the Future, Bishop Michael tackles many pertinent issues, including marriage, family and bioethics, with astute scholarship and understanding.
You can purchase this book on Amazon.
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New article: Transgender 'men' given IVF treatment by NHS https://t.co/7JSBFe6ibG pic.twitter.com/PNYlv7RVRg
— Christian Concern (@CConcern) August 3, 2016
'Preserving options'
Dr James Barrett, of the NHS Gender Identity Clinic in West London, said: "Transgender patients want to live like normal people. They want what everybody else gets as a matter of course." He said that egg freezing before gender reassignment surgery is about "preserving options".
'I am not sure why the taxpayer should be funding this'
Conservative MP Peter Bone questioned why the NHS is choosing to fund this, especially considering its limited resources for more necessary medical services.
"The NHS is does not have endless pots of cash and, with accident and emergency departments and hospitals bursting at the seams, we should stop pretending that it does," he said.
"When you go into realms like this, I am not sure why the taxpayer should be funding it. It’s something that people could surely fund privately if they want to. We’ve had changes in the Cancer Drugs Fund which will stop some cancer drugs being available to people on cost grounds.
"I just sometimes ask if the NHS is getting its priorities right."
Faith, Freedom & the Future: Challenges for the 21st Century (Wilberforce Publications)