Backlash at Lord Winston over gender ops warning

ONE of Britain’s leading scientists suffered a fierce backlash yesterday from transgender activists after warning of possible ‘horrendous’ consequences of gender reassignment.

Lord Robert Winston claimed complications occurred for a significant proportion of those who have had surgery – and added that some also suffer fertility problems from hormone treatments.

He said that in his work he has dealt with patients who were ‘very unhappy’ and felt ‘quite badly damaged’ by having treatment – and that young people in particular should be made more aware of the long term risks. Lord Winston, who is a professor of science and society and emeritus professor of fertility studies at Imperial Col- lege London, said: ‘For example, with vaginal reconstruction, there are probably 40 per cent of people who have... some complication [and] often need further surgery.’

But his comments, made on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, attracted anger on Twitter. One critic, who described herself as a trans woman, said he was ‘talking bulls*** about trans surgery’. And trans woman and BBC employee Rachel Evans wrote: ‘Transgender KIDS. An area in which Lord Winston seems to have no particular expertise. His area is fertility!’

It comes amid a debate over whether children who believe they are the wrong gender should have any treatment.

‘Quite badly damaged’