Court approves sex change for 12-year-old

MELBOURNE, May 24 (UPI) -- An Australian judge is permitting a 12-year-old girl to begin a gender reassignment procedure funded by taxpayers' money, officials said.

Justice Heather Carter of the Family Court of Victoria ruled the pre-teen be allowed to use a male name on applications for a new passport, birth certificate and Medicare card while starting hormone treatments for her sex change, the (Brisbane, Australia) Sunday Mail reported Saturday.

The 12-year-old's mother filed the application to permit hormone therapy, the report said.

Among the supporters of the girl's procedure were an endocrinologist, a psychiatrist, a counselor and an attorney, the Mail said. It is reported the girl's father is against the reassignment.

Carter's ruling allows the girl to have hormone treatments every 90 days to prevent her from getting a period and halt other puberty developments.