Mother defends hysterectomy bid

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Katie Thorpe, 15, has severe cerebral palsy and her mother, Alison, wants her womb removed to stop her having to go through the discomfort and inconvenience of menstruating.

Doctors in Britain are currently seeking legal advice to see whether they have the proper consent to proceed with the hysterectomy on the teenager from Billericay, Essex.

Katie's mother believes she will only suffer more if she is allowed to develop into an adult and insists the benefits of surgery would far outweigh the short-term pain of an operation.

She told Sky News: "I am looking at the interests of an individual, my daughter. I am not suggesting that disabled children as a whole are given this operation. I think there needs to be choice for individuals.

"Please realise I am not advocating this as a blanket policy for disabled children. For my daughter this, I think, is the right decision and a decision we have thought long and hard about."

But the disabled charity Scope warned the unnecessary surgery might not be in the teenager's best interests and could have "disturbing" consequences for other children.

The charity's executive director, Andy Rickell, said the charity recognised that it was a difficult situation and was aware of the challenges faced by families like Katie's.

However, he added: "It is very difficult to see how this kind of invasive surgery, which is not medically necessary and which will be very painful and traumatic, can be in Katie's best interests.

"This case raises fundamental ethical issues about the way our society treats disabled people and the respect we have for disabled people's human and reproductive rights. "