MELBOURNE: A 12-year-old Australian girl has been allowed by a court to begin the process of a sex change, despite objections from her father who said the child was too young to make the decision.
A hormone treatment was initiated on the unnamed girl, as the first step towards a complete gender switch after the court pronounced the order on an application filed by her mother, the Sunday Herald-Sun reported on Sunday.
The court also permitted the girl to obtain a new birth certificate, passport and medicare card in a boy's name.
Besides the mother, a state government observer, an endocrinologist, a psychiatrist, a family counsellor and a lawyer had supported the child's decision in the application.
However, her father, who did not attend the final court hearing, opposed the proposed gender swap, refusing to accept that his daughter had always seen herself as a boy.
He also considered the child too young to make the decision, the court was told.
But the child's lawyer held that the girl was capable of making an informed decision.
The girl is one of the youngest patients in Australia to be granted permission to begin a sex change treatment.
The hormone treatment, which was initiated on the child to prevent her from starting her menstrual cycle was reversible, the court was told, and would give the family "breathing time" before the final phase of the therapy was implemented.
A further court application will be needed before the testosterone treatment begins to deepen her voice and promote growth of facial hair and muscles, the newspaper said.Further surgeries on the child would have to wait until she is at least 18.
Mother brainwashed her daughter.
THE cousin of a 12-year-old Victorian girl who is undergoing a sex change claims the child's mother brainwashed her daughter.
The adult cousin, nephew of the girl's father, said the woman had wanted the girl to be born a boy so desperately that she groomed her from birth to want to be a boy.
The man, who cannot be named, lived with the family between 1999 and 2001 and said the girl had been brought up in a troubled home.
Her mother had developed post-natal depression and bought her boys' underwear and clothing, the student said.
"Her mother brainwashed her from a very young age," he alleged.
"The girl had very tomboyish tendencies and the mother fostered that and told her, 'I always wanted a boy and I'm glad you're acting like a boy'," the man said.
Can a 12-year-old girl has the capacity to make such life-changing decisions on her own?
OTHERS SHOCKING STORY TO SHARE
2/2/2007
Tim Petras
A German boy of 12 is believed to have become the world's youngest sex change patient after convincing doctors that he wanted to live the rest of his life as a female.
The boy - originally called Tim, but now known as Kim - has started to receive hormone treatment, in preparation for the operation that will eventually complete the sex change.
Tim was diagnosed as a transsexual two years ago, when doctors and psychiatrists concluded that his claims to be "in the wrong body" were so deeply felt that he required treatment. The therapy involves artificially arresting male puberty, with a series of potent hormone injections before the administration of female hormones to initiate the development of features such as breasts.
Now aged 14, and officially registered as a female, Kim looks like a typical girl of her age. She dresses in fashionable clothes, has long blonde hair and blue eyes and dreams of moving to Paris to become a fashion designer. Her parents, who initially assumed their son was going through a temporary phase, eventually grew accustomed to seeing him as a girl.
The family's full identity has not been made public. But Kim's father, known as Lutz P. – speaking to the German publications Der Spiegel and Stern – said that as a child, the boy liked to play with Barbie dolls, enjoyed wearing dresses and, from the age of two, insisted that he was a girl. "We saw Kim as a girl, but not as a problem. Our life was surprisingly normal."
UPDATE: 8 FEB 2009German Becomes Transsexual At 16
Kim Petras, a 16-year-old from Germany, underwent a sex change operation and became the world`s youngest transsexual, the DailyMail writes.Tim, or Kim today, started receiving hormonal therapy at the age of 12 and the entire sex change operation was performed in November last year. Kim is a famous pop singer in her homeland and says she can`t wait to put on her tight summer outfits.
The gender change operation is usually performed in Germany once the patient turns 18, however Kim managed to convince her doctors that she needs the operation when at the age of 12. She was officially registered as a girl when she was 14 years old, becoming famous for her choice.Insurance covered the operation expenses, because he was officially diagnosed as an illness. Doctors believe that there is lack of empathy for cases like Kim`s, which occurs because of ignorance. A mental illness in not in question her, but these people are “trapped in the wrong body”.
“I always felt like a woman”
Kim Petras
Kim had to wait for her 16 th birthday to meet the legal age limit for the surgery, and is now delighted because everything has changed. She is aware that people would always mention her past, but hopes that one day she would be famous for her music.
Last year, Kim, a fashion design student, signed a record deal with Joyce Records and released her first single “Last Forever”, which became a YouTube and MySpace hit.
She began feeling like a girl when she was two years old and when asked if she feels like a woman today, Kim replied:
- I have always felt like a woman! -
Her father is proud of her for following her dreams, regardless of the fact that they are hard to follow.
