A convicted rapist who claims he should have been born a woman wants the state to pay for laser hair removal, hormones and counseling as part of the transition from male to female.

Other states have provided such medical care and a federal judge recently ordered the Massachusetts prison system to pay for an expensive operation that will transform a convicted murderer from a man into a woman.

What Ronny Edward Darnell's lawsuit, filed last year in federal court, will mean for Oklahoma is unclear.

Jerry Massie, spokesman for the state Corrections Department, said the agency has provided similar treatments to inmates in the past, but a handwritten note from a psychologist working at the Helena prison where Darnell is being held shows the prisoner was denied treatment.