U.S. prisoner sues for sex-change operation

BOSTON, June 8 (Reuters) An inmate serving a life sentence for killing his wife is suing the Massachusetts prison system, asking it to pay for a sex-change operation.

Lawyers for Robert Kosilek, who uses the name Michelle and has lived off-and-on as a woman for years, warned in federal court papers filed on Tuesday that Kosilek faces ''risk of suicide ... due to the unbearable prospect of living the rest of her life in a male body.'' Kosilek, who takes estrogen pills and has had laser hair removal to make him look like a woman, asserted that he suffers from gender identity disorder and that denying the operation amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

The condition is recognized by the U.S. medical establishment, and affects one in 10,000 people, according to Walter Meyer, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, and an expert in gender identity disorder.

The lawsuit, filed in 2000, asks that the court order the Massachusetts Department of Correction to pay for his surgery on the grounds that he was being denied needed medical care.

In the United States, surgery to replace male genitalia with a facsimile of female genitalia costs from 10,000 dollars to 20,000 dollars, Meyer said.

''If you're in the free world and you have this problem, very few insurance companies pay for it,'' Meyer said. ''Most people live in the new gender and don't get the surgery.'' The case is being heard in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Kosilek was convicted in 1993 in the murder of his wife, Cheryl.

According to court papers, Kosilek was abused as a child and in the 1970s was beaten and raped while living as a woman.

A state corrections spokeswoman declined to comment on the case and Kosilek's lawyer did not answer calls.

REUTERS LR KP0918