A TRANSSEXUAL is fighting to have laser treatment on the NHS to remove facial stubble.

The 37-year-old, from Seaham, County Durham, who wishes to remain anonymous, is taking hormones to change his body shape from male to female, before he has an operation to change gender.

But the hormones cannot rid him of facial hair, and so now he is waiting to hear whether Easington Primary Care Trust (PCT) will fund laser hair removal.

It costs about £500 for the first course of six treatments and then a few more sessions may be needed.

The man said: "Having facial hair is very traumatic, especially if it starts growing through. I have to have a very close shave and then use a special cream before putting on my foundation and make-up."

He suffers from a rare medical condition known as gender dysphoria, which makes him feel as if he is a woman trapped inside the body of a man.

In order to be considered for a sex-change operation, he has to live life for a woman full-time for a year.

He decided to seek help in changing sex after living as a man made him so unhappy, it drove him to contemplate suicide. He went to see his GP and has been receiving treatment ever since.

"Some people may think that I should not get this treatment on the NHS, but if they understand that this is a condition I have been born with, and that it has nearly resulted in my death because it has left me so depressed, perhaps they would be more forgiving," he added.

A spokeswoman for Easington PCT said the case would be discussed next month.

She said: "A woman suffering from a facial hair condition would have to go through the same application procedures as this patient.

"Such a decision would go to the Out of Area Treatment Committee which considers one-off treatment needs."