[THE MEDICAL CARE OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE].

The phenomenon of the discrepancy between a person's sexual self-perception and his/her genetic sex has been known to medicine since the mid-19th century. Initially, this discrepancy was considered to be a mental disorder. Over time, advances in medical abilities in surgery, hormonal treatment and infertility, have enabled physicians to help those who are affected to fulfill their wish. The present notion is that transsexualism is a solvable problem (whether the desired wish is for a man to become a woman or vice versa). Treatment is both complicated (surgery) as well as chronic (hormones). In this review the various medical aspects of the different possible treatments are discussed, excluding the psychological part of this intriguing condition.