NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A New York judge is ordering city taxpayers to pay for a 21-year-old man's sex-change operation, the New York Post reports.
"I don't think it's hit me yet. The consequences are so far reaching," Mariah Lopez told newspaper after her victory in Manhattan Family Court.
Judge Sheldon Rand said the city's Administration for Children's Services must pay for all "necessary" care for children in its care. Lopez was in ACS care when her legal battle began.
She suffers from a diagnosed gender-identity disorder and that surgery is the recognized treatment, the judge's ruling, which will be released Thursday, read, The Post reported.
"This court has recognized that gender-identity disorder is a real condition and there is a real solution to it and people don't have to suffer from it," Rand wrote.
Lopez told the court the surgery would cost between $15,000 and $20,000.
