Mohammad Dawood Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Over the last 30 years, a total of 700 sex correction surgeries have been performed on patients from across the Islamic world at King Abdulaziz University Hospital's Sexual Orientation Center. Head of the center, professor Yasser Jamal, said there is a difference between sex change surgeries and sex correction surgeries. “Sex correction is when the patient has genital mutations or other physical and genetic mutations identifying him or her as the opposite gender,” said Jamal. In such cases, according to Jamal, doctors only correct patients' physical features to conform to their original gender. “In Islam, sex correction is allowed after medical diagnosis as it is considered a medical condition,” Jamal said. “However, sex change without a medical diagnosis is forbidden.” He also said the ratio of males to females who undergo sex correction surgeries is close, but more males were undergoing the procedure than females. The hospital has also opened a new center for regenerative surgeries and stem cell technologies. “Regenerative medicine is a branch of tissue engineering and molecular biology, which deals with the process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore normal function,” Jamal said. “We no longer have to reshape bones, as we can simply shift displaced fat to restore the original or corrected form of organs.” Supervisor of the newly opened Regenerative Medicine Center, Sabah Mushrif, said regenerative medicine can be used to repair mutations, burns and tissue deficiencies in patients. “Regenerative medicine uses stem cell technology, which is a method of extracting healthy cells from one part of the body and replanting them in another part,” Jamal said. “Stem cell technology is gaining popularity in the medical field because it does not require the use of artificial injections that could have negative effects on the body.”
