Dutch study details lasting harm from abolished transgender sterilisation law

Researchers from Radboud University produced a report titled “An Inhuman Law” after interviewing 28 transgender and intersex people about the impact of the now-repealed gender-registration act that required irreversible sterilisation for legal gender change. The law, in force from 1985 to 2014, forced individuals to undergo removal of reproductive organs, leading to loss of fertility, lasting health issues and a sense of coercion.

The Dutch State issued a formal apology in 2021 and offered monetary compensation, also funding further research. The report notes that the Health Council and a legal commission had advised linking gender change to sterilisation, though some members opposed state-mandated medical procedures. Researchers could not trace how the stricter wording entered the 1982 cabinet-Van Agt II proposal. Activists such as Willemijn van Kempen stress that medical professionals remained silent during the law’s implementation, and a forthcoming documentary will explore these themes.