Parents seek halt to 48-year-old's gender reassignment

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A judge has temporarily blocked gender-reassignment surgery for a transgender woman from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, while he considers her parents' request she be declared incompetent.

A competency hearing was underway Wednesday for 48-year-old Christine Klaus Kitzler in suburban Philadelphia, where her surgery had been scheduled this week.

Her parents, Klaus and Ingrid Kitzler, are looking to have a temporary guardian named.

They say their daughter was diagnosed as a child with a slight mental disability, has battled depression and has illnesses that could increase the risk of surgery. They say she should reflect further before undergoing irreversible surgery.

Kitzler's lawyers say her parents, from suburban Cleveland, Ohio, are trying to prevent her from living an authentic life. They say they fear the parents want to permanently block the surgery.