A transgender woman has claimed she was denied access to healthcare and was left to deal with people “afraid” to touch her.

Paige Behan underwent gender reassignment surgery in Munich two months ago and spent three weeks recovering in hospital. 

When she returned home, she went to see her GP after beginning to feel unwell. 

She told Lunchtime Live her GP referred her to St James’s Emergency Department – where she claims they refused to help her.

“I was sent by the doctor that was treating me at the beginning to the plastic surgery department, who refused to see me,” she said. 

“They basically said that they do not provide transgender reassignment surgery... so they sent me to gynaecology. 

“Gynaecology doesn't admit anything other than oncology, which was fair enough, so I was referred to urology. 

“Urology refused to see me because it was a wound management issue - so they passed me back to plastics and that's when plastics refused to see me for the second time.” 

Eventually, Ms Behan was sent to the National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street – where she had to wait for 12 hours with “an active bacterial infection” before getting help.

“I just feel like that's the absolute discrimination that I had to kind of bear and face and something that can't happen to any other transgender people,” she said. 

Healthcare for trans people

Ms Behan noted that all she needed was IV antibiotics – but she claimed doctors did not want to be “liable for her case” because she was trans. 

“[It] is not fair since the HSE sent me for gender reassignment surgery in a country because Ireland can't provide that lifesaving care,” she said.

“And to be honest with you, it is a life-or-death issue for somebody that's transitioning and seeking gender-affirming care.” 

Ms Behan said she has had to “advocate” for her healthcare since she was 16 years old – and 10 years later, it’s still too difficult. 

“I never wanted to be in this position to be so loud about this, but I think it's something that is drastically wrong in the system,” she said. 

The National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street. Photo: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

She said her gender-affirming care in Germany was “welcoming and calming” - noting the surgeons spoke to her “like an individual”. 

“To come from that back to a system in Ireland that’s [surgeon’s] afraid to touch you, but also not educated in the matter at all makes me sick,” she said. 

“I deserve the basic right of healthcare - if a healthcare professional in such a broad range of medicine can't treat wound infection, I'm better off going back over to Germany.” 

Ms Behan said the infection cleared once she received antibiotics, but her perception of the Irish health service for trans people is “hindered” forever because of this incident. 

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