BAHRAIN: Bahraini woman overcomes social stigma, undergoes sex change

A Bahraini resident, known for most of his life as Zeinab Abd al-Hafez Hanoun, is in the process of a sex change. Having spent his entire childhood considered to be a girl but feeling far more masculine than feminine, Hussein is now taking steps to correct his mistaken gender. But the process includes overcoming many legal and social obstacles. Hussein Abd al-Hafez Hanoun, a Bahraini resident, has been known for most of his life as Zeinab Abd al-Hafez Hanoun and is taking steps to permanently and officially change his status and physical self from female to male. A social anomaly and an often downplayed medical condition, being a 'Khuntha' or one who shows signs of being both male and female, is a rare physical phenomenon. However, for those who fall under this category, securing a lifestyle that is true to one's own identity in the Shari'a governed state of Bahrain is not often an easy or simple task. Hanoun, who is 33 years old, says that it became clear to him from a very early age that despite existing in an ostensibly female body, he felt that in actuality, he was male. In Hanoun's opinion, his physical appearance alone was far more male than it was female, let alone how he actually felt on the inside. ''I discovered that I was different, of course I've known this since my childhood. I felt a conflict within myself, my physical appearance, my voice are those of a boy, but no one would ever refer to me as a boy," says Hanoun. "For example, I've been to many doctors in Bahrain and non of them confirmed that I was a boy- I was a girl,'' he adds. With a female name, a female wardrobe and a number of doctors unable to tell him that he was anything other than a woman, Hanoun spent most of his adolescence and part of his adult life torn between how society viewed him and his own feelings about his gender and identity. ''They, my female schoolmates, felt I was different from them because I was always hanging out with guys, and I used to play high impact sports, mainly practiced by the guys," says Hanoun. However, as he got older and was still considered female, the time came for Hanoun to get married and with this marriage his confusion regarding his gender identity reached its peak. At the time, he was still regarded as a woman named Zainab, and he was 25 years old. "During the wedding night, I discovered that there was no acceptance, attraction or connection between the two people, between bride and groom. This is what really made me skeptical about my situation and got me to travel to Jordan," he said. Hanoun's marriage only lasted one day, and his journey to Jordan led to medical confirmation of what he had known from the very start, that he was in fact a man. ''Zeinab's medical diagnosis confirms that she does not have ovaries, or a womb. She has XY chromosomes. All this confirms that she is male," says Fawzia Janahi, Hanoun's lawyer. Medical confirmation of this gave Hanoun the confidence to pursue the surgical correction of his perceived sex from female to male. However, the journey is not an easy or straightforward one and involves a number of complicated legal processes. "When I took the case to court, I asked for a fatwa allowing me to take the matter to a doctor specialised in Islamic law, so he may confirm our findings. Finally, our findings were confirmed and that is what determined that correctional surgery needed to be performed.'' Despite the fact that many technical hurdles have been over come, doctors have finally agreed that Hanoun should in fact be male, not female, there is still one last obstacle Hanoun faces. Although his family have accepted that their once daughter is to become a man, Hanoun now worries about the rest of society and whether or not it will accept him as a man who was once a woman. The sex correction takes place over a number of stages but in the meantime, Hanoun hopes to go back to work and start living a normal fulfilled life. ''I am now hoping to return to my job because currently I am not working and I hope that society accepts me, on the basis that I am now Hussein, and not the Zeinab of the past," he says. Hanoun had worked as a telephone operator, but following the first sex operation he underwent and his emergence as a man by the name of Hussein, his former female colleagues at work refused to work with him, and Hussein lost his job. Hussein's second and final surgery was due to be performed in Thailand by the end of October.

ITN Source | October 26, 2007

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