Vienna — A boy of 12 is believed to have become the world's youngest sex change patient after convincing doctors that he wanted to live the rest of his life as a female. The boy - originally called Tim, but now known as Kim - has started to receive hormone treatment, in preparation for the operation that will eventually complete the sex change. advertisementTim was diagnosed as a transsexual two years ago, when doctors and psychiatrists concluded that his claims to be "in the wrong body" were so deeply felt that he required treatment. The therapy involves artificially arresting male puberty, with a series of potent hormone injections before the administration of female hormones to initiate the development of features such as breasts. Now aged 14, and officially registered as a female, Kim looks like a typical girl of her age. She dresses in fashionable clothes, has long blonde hair and blue eyes and dreams of moving to Paris to become a fashion designer. Her parents, who initially assumed their son was going through a temporary phase, eventually grew accustomed to seeing him as a girl. The family's full identity has not been made public. But Kim's father, known as Lutz P. – speaking to the German publications Der Spiegel and Stern – said that as a child, the boy liked to play with Barbie dolls, enjoyed wearing dresses and, from the age of two, insisted that he was a girl. "We saw Kim as a girl, but not as a problem. Our life was surprisingly normal." Kim reacted badly to the first signs of puberty, he said. "At that stage we realised that she was terrified of growing facial hair and her voice breaking." Kim's parents consulted psychiatrists across Germany. Some condemned their support of their child's desire to undergo a sex change, or suggested that Kim be kept under observation in a closed psychiatric ward. But others agreed that the child should receive therapy, because growing up to be a man would have damaged her personality. Dr Bern Meyenburg, the head of a clinic for children and adolescents with identity disturbances at Frankfurt University, concluded that the child was serious. He wrote in his diagnosis: "Kim is a mentally well-developed child who appears happy and balanced. There is no doubt of the determined wish, that was already detectable since early childhood. It would have been very wrong to let Kim grow up to be a man. It is rare to have such a clear-cut case." Kim is reportedly fully accepted by her fellow school pupils and teachers. The costs of the procedure are being covered by health insurance, as the condition qualifies as an illness. Dr Achim Wuesthof, an endocrinologist specialising in children and adolescents, who is treating the teenager at a clinic in Hamburg, said the procedure had been a success so far. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, he said that even though under-16s were not permitted to undergo a sex change in other countries, he and his colleagues felt that in this case it had been best to start earlier. He said: "To the best of my knowledge, Kim is the youngest sex change patient in the world. According to German law, two independent psychiatrists must confirm that the child is indeed transsexual and approve the sex change. Once that has been done, it is best to start as early as possible. "Transsexuals experience the onset of puberty, and the physical changes it brings, as a serious trauma. But there is a general lack of empathy with cases like Kim's, mostly because people know little about the condition. Imagine a man that suddenly starts growing breasts or a woman that starts growing a beard against their will – that is how Kim and people like her experience puberty. "They are not freaks, nor do they suffer mental illness. They are simply trapped in the wrong bodies. That is why it is best to help them as early as possible and reduce the trauma for them and their families." The problem that Dr Meyenburg and other psychiatrists faced was distinguishing a true transsexual personality from a temporary gender identity crisis. Dr Meyenburg quoted an example of a 15-year-old girl who wanted to change her sex, but who revealed during counselling that she had suffered brutal sexual abuse by her father – a case for psychological, rather than hormonal therapy. Should Kim change her mind before the surgery, the procedure could be reversed. Doctors admit that the treatment involves a risk, however, and that its effects on children as young as Kim are not fully understood. For legal reasons, the final stage – cosmetic surgery to remove the male genitalia – cannot take place until Kim is 18. Britain's youngest transsexual is Angel Paris-Jordan, who was granted an operation on the NHS at the age of 17. Pancevski, B. (2007). Kim became youngest ever transsexual at 12. The Telegraph - UK http://www.mtra.org.au/press/07/0203.html   Vienna — The German boy believed to be the youngest sex change patient in the world, who started hormone treatment at the age of 12, wants to bring forward the final operation by two years. The youngster, christened Tim but now called Kim, was allowed to start the treatment after convincing doctors he wanted to live the rest of his life as a female. Now aged 14, Kim told Germany's Stern TV his dearest wish was to have the final cosmetic surgery to remove the male genitalia when he is 16. Under German law the operation can not take place until Kim is 18, which would mean either a law change or travelling abroad to a country where there was no legal objection to the surgery being completed. Pictures of him on German TV showed Kim looking like a typical teenage girl, playing with strands of his long hair while seated in the pink attic bedroom of his parents' house. The room is filled with fashion magazines, a makeup table, a sewing machine and even a clothes mannequin near the window. He also keeps a piggy bank filled with change he has been saving for the operation since the age of five, even though all the costs so far have been paid by the German health service that classifies his condition as an illness. When he was just two Tim tried on his older sister's clothes and played with Barbies. As soon as he could speak he told his parents: "I'm a girl." His father, named only as Lutz P for legal reasons, said they realised then it was not just a phase and that the problem was serious. After that, Tim went by "Kim" at home. He played typical girl games with other girls, went to their birthday parties and even dressed up for the ballet. Germany alone has 6,000 transsexuals under permanent medical treatment as adults, with many living otherwise ordinary lives as engineers and lawyers, artists, programmers and teachers. His parents decided to help Kim with a sex change after he grew increasingly distressed at becoming like other adult transsexuals with big hands and deep voices who he thought looked ridiculous when they dress like women. Kim's mother, who has not been named, said: "If your child has a heart defect you send him to a specialist, but when your child is transsexual, everyone seems to have an opinion." Kim said the endless series of questions was embarrassing, but told Germany's Spiegel magazine: "I answered their questions to the best of my ability, but the whole thing felt humiliating. "All of a sudden, I had the feeling that it was my fault, that there was something dirty going on." Gender identity disorders are not rare among children, and they often appear as soon as a child starts to speak. The problem goes away in about a quarter of these children. Most of the remaining three-quarters become homosexual. In about two to 10 per cent of the cases, though, early gender identity disorders lead to transsexualism. Germany has only a few experts on child transsexual development, and Kim's family eventually turned to Dr Bernd Meyenburg, who is the head of the clinic for children with identity disturbances at Frankfurt university. He has studied transsexuality since the 1970s said Kim was a "real dilemma". He said: "If we do something about it, it's irreversible. And if we allow nature to take its course, that too is irreversible." He added, however, that it "would have been a crime to let Kim grow up as a man". In the past Dr Meyenburg admits he strongly opposed hormone treatment for children but changed his mind when one of his patients refused to listen and ordered hormones over the internet, then went abroad at 17 and had a sex change operation for a few thousand euros. Dr Meyenburg admits he was angry at the time, but said today the woman is a law student and one of his happiest patients. He now allows young patients to enter hormone treatment early, before puberty complicates a sex change. "They simply suffer less," he said. Leidig, M. (2007). Child wants operation sooner. The Telegraph - UK http://www.mtra.org.au/press/07/0203.html