Transgender people awaiting sex reassignment surgery in New Zealand have been told they face a wait of more than 30 years for the procedure, since the country’s only specialist surgeon has retired.

“It’s a wretched situation,” says Lynda Whitehead, president of trans advocacy group Agender. “The last few years have been devastating for the trans community.”

In the 1990s New Zealand was a world leader in reassignment surgery, with the comparatively low cost of the operation and progressive attitude towards the delicate procedure attracting patients from around the globe.

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But in 2014 the only plastic surgeon in New Zealand qualified to perform male-to-female reassignment surgery retired – and so far no one has stepped forward to replace him. New Zealand has no specialists in female-to-male surgery.

Dr Peter Walker said in the year leading up to his retirement he approached every plastic surgeon in New Zealand, asking if they were interested in adopting the specialism.

“It is a very complex surgery and no one wanted to take it up,” says Walker, who, in his mid-70s, continues to lobby the government for his replacement.

“People didn’t have the time, or the inclination, I don’t know. But it is fascinating surgery and fascinating patients – work that truly changes lives.”

The New Zealand government funds three male-to-female surgeries and one female-to-male every two years.

Since Walker’s retirement, the waiting list for state-funded surgery has risen to more than 70, and members of the trans community say they are “desperate” and “frustrated” by the situation.

“All hope of getting the procedure done has been taken away,” said Whitehead. “When Dr Walker was practising, the waiting list was long, but it was still possible. Now the backlog will take decades to clear.

“There are a lot of depressed trans people out there, wanting to move forward with their lives but unable to.”

The ministry of health said in a statement it was working with referring specialists, such as endocrinologists and psychiatrists, to help identify “where best to refer people for treatment overseas”, and anticipated state-funded overseas surgeries would begin in 2016 or 2017.

Dr Sally Langley, president of the New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons, said her organisation had approached the ministry of health “multiple times” over the last 18 months, seeking funding for a New Zealand plastic surgeon to train in sex reassignment surgery.

“We have been working hard to get the ministry of health to provide funding for young surgeons to do a fellowship overseas, but we have had no response to two letters and other communications asking for funding,” she said. “We have approached them again recently and now we are just in the process of waiting.”

Langley said she was aware of one New Zealand plastic surgeon studying reassignment surgery abroad, but said she had “no idea” when they would be experienced enough to deliver the surgery back in New Zealand.

Whitehead said those who can afford to are travelling to Thailand, Australia and America for the procedure, but the cost and stress of such travel was prohibitive for most.

One trans man who did not wish to be named said he was “gutted” when he was informed by the ministry of health that he could expect to be operated on in 32 years’ time – which he said meant “another 32 years of living like a half-person”.

He is now looking at remortgaging his house – or beginning a decade-long savings plan – in order to raise the US$150,000 (A$190,000) for the surgery in America.

“I thought maybe the waiting list was 20 years, and I could have accepted that. But 32 years means it is never going to happen: end of the dream, really.”

A private plastic surgeon who performs top surgery (the removal of female breast tissue, and the shaping of a male chest) said the New Zealand government should make it “a priority” to restore the operations, as the physical, psychological and emotional effect on patients awaiting surgery was “difficult to witness”.

“In a small country like ours we either need to immediately send away a plastic surgeon for further training, or start paying for patients to go overseas and have the surgery,” said the plastic surgeon, who did not wish to be named.

“It is very important surgery for the patients and there is a space for it in our health system. These are just a normal group of people who are caught up in a terrible dilemma around their gender identity. And if there are practical things that can be done to help improve their lives, we need to do that now.”

Vic Roper, from Wellington, has not joined the waiting list for transgender surgery, saying it is too long and there is “no point”. Photograph: Vic Roper

Vic Roper, 30, told the Guardian he saw “no point” in joining the waiting list for surgery as “by the time I got to the top of the list, I would be too old to appreciate it”.

“Endocrinologists working in this field have told me, and others in the trans community, ‘don’t bother, don’t waste your time’. I believe our health needs are just as valid as anyone else’s. At the moment, that waiting list seems like a way to appease people, rather than get anything done.”

Walker said his preference would be for more plastic surgeons to be trained and work within New Zealand, as the surgery was complicated and invasive, and patients had a better chance of making a full recovery if they could stay on home turf.

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He said he had operated on dozens of patients – from New Zealand and abroad – who had had botched surgeries overseas, often using dated techniques.

“As a temporary measure, to address the backlog, I think the ministry may need to send patients overseas for the surgery,” said Walker. “But long-term we need a surgeon, or surgeons, working in New Zealand. The New Zealand government is pretty amazing that they fund these operations at all, but now they really need to follow through.”

Whitehead would like to see an experienced plastic surgeon brought in from overseas “immediately” to address the backlog, saying the ongoing impact of living in a body that was not your own was “living torture” for many in the trans community.

“Imagine being trapped in a shell you don’t want to be trapped inside. And you know that can be changed, but it is taken out of your reach. It is no wonder rates of depression and suicide are so high in the trans community – people are absolutely desperate.”

•This article was amended on 22 April 2016. An earlier version said “one male-to-female” where “one female-to-male” was meant.