Spain's first minor undergoes Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS)

Reconstructive surgeon Ivan Manero says the procedure was carried out three weeks ago and the patient is doing fine.

Manero told a press conference Tuesday in Barcelona that the boy had felt from a very young age that he was actually female.

Manero said the patient had been undergoing hormonal and psychiatric treatment for two years, after deciding he wanted to undergo surgery to have the body of a woman.

The patient's name has not been disclosed.

The surgery was carried out under authorization from a judge, as required by Spanish law in the case of minors seeking such an operation.

The pop singer – born Tim – is well known in Germany for having started hormone replacement therapy as part of her gender transition by the age of 12.

Now 16, she completed Gender Reassignment Surgery in November, according to a posting on her blog.

Dr Bernd Meyenburg who heads the Psychiatric Special Outpatient Clinic for Children and Adolescents with Identity Disorders at the University of Frankfurt Hospital said: ‘Very few youth psychiatrists have any experience with transsexual developments. The families wander from one psychiatrist to the next.

‘I was always against such operations on children so young but after seeing how happy one of my patients was and how well adjusted after returning from having the operation abroad while still a teenager – I realised that in some cases it is the right decision.

‘Kim is such a case – she always knew what she wanted.’