A TRANSEXUAL says she has been left half-man half-woman after a health trust refused to pay for the second part of her sex op.

Miranda Lee, 40, who was born Raymond Harwood, wants South East Essex Primary Care Trust to pay for her breast augmentation to complete her change from a man to a woman.

She has already undergone surgery to remove her male genitalia and alter her voice at Charing Cross Hospital – paid for by the NHS.

Now she is considering legal action against the primary care trust in the hope she can complete her transformation.

Miranda, who lives in Southend, said: “I was born with a female brain, have suffered constant abuse throughout my life, and was even married.

“In my determination to become a woman, I’ve lost almost everything. “My brother and sister don’t want to know me, employers don’t want to know, and now the health trust has left me half-man and half-woman.”

She added: “My mother’s now dead, but before she died she admitted she’d lost a son but gained a daughter.”

Miranda says she has lived as a woman for two years, and in July last year underwent the first procedure to make the change.

It was paid for from a shared primary care trust budget set aside for specialist commissions.

Miranda says she is trying to enhance her breasts unsing hormone treatment, but is also a user of anti-depressants.

She is currently unemployed, and says many employers have found ways to get rid of her.

Miranda also says she has been beaten up and threatened with violence, which forced her to move home three times.

South East Essex primary care trust said it had clear policies on what treatment could be provided on the NHS. Spokeswoman Claire Routh said: “It has to target resources on priority health care needs, by having clear policies based on the most effective interventions.

“The policy states all applications for breast augmentation will only be performed for reconstructive purposes following malignancy, and will not be carried out for small but normal breasts or for breast tissue involution.”

She said a panel assesses applications for treatments not provided as standard, and listens to the patient and medical staff to make the best use of resources.