Sex Change Surgery Guidelines Drafted China is set to issue its first clinical guideline on sex-change surgery, according to a notice put on the website of the Ministry of Health yesterday. The ministry is now soliciting public and professional______【51】on the draft guideline. The coming guideline aims to regulate and standardize sex reassignment surgery, part of a treatment for gender identity disorder in transsexuals. Experts______【52】nearly 2,000 Chinese have undergone sex-change surgery while 100,000 to 400,000 are still considering it. However, no official number is available. In the draft, the MOH sets minimum ______【53】for both surgical candidates and medical institutions. Candidates for the surgery must be older than 20 and single, the draft guideline said. They are also required to prove a persistent______【54】for a sex change, to live for at least five consecutive years full-time in the new gender role, and to engage mental therapy for at least one year. Before surgery can take place, a candidate must receive a recommendation for the operation from a______【55】after an appropriate series of therapy sessions. Also, several legal requirements must be met______【56】the procedure. The candidate must provide proof from police that he or she has does not have any criminal______【57】in the past. Police must also agree to change the sex status on the identity card of the receiver before the______【58】can take place. The advent of such a guideline is believed to show that the government is concerned ______【59】the needs of a relatively small number of people who want to change sex. But doctors also warn______【60】all stakeholders, including the hospital and prospective receivers, should be highly cautious about this surgery. The operation is more than a medical______【61】due to its huge social and legal consequences. Doctors should make it clear to those______【62】sex-change surgeries that the option always remains to continue to live in the original role. The guideline ______【63】surgeons to tell patients about other options such as hormone therapy. They are also required to explain the______【64】involved, and underlying social barriers including discrimination, and administrative recognition and approval. For the candidates, the surgery itself is not the______【65】issue in the long run. The real issue is the kind of life he or she will have to lead afterward. (51)