A 15-year-old from West Java, Indonesia who was declared female at birth was recently discovered to have “grown” male genitals.
The teen, identified as TAP, who is now in his third year in junior high school, was raised and dressed like a girl, said his 42-year-old mother, identified as S.
Up until the ninth grade, he wore a headscarf and a skirt.
Source: Kompas
TAP’s masculine character became apparent in primary school, when he actively played football and futsal, Sinar Harian reported.
When TAP was in his second year of junior high school, S began to worry that her child had not menstruated.
However, the mother assumed that her younger child was a late bloomer as his sister only began menstruating at 15 years old.
S only discovered that TAP’s genitals looked like a male’s after checking his physical condition during a bath.
In October, S took TAP to the health centre for an examination, during which the doctor confirmed he had testicles and was therefore, biologically male.
TAP was then referred to several hospitals for further examination and to undergo hormone and chromosome tests.
Since the examinations, TAP has been recommended to undergo a series of operations, starting with testicular descent surgery and urinary tract repair.
However, the total cost of the operations is expected to be large. The cost for the chromosome examination alone reached Rp 8.5 million (S$717), S revealed.
Source: Sinar Harian
Both TAP and his parents hope he can soon undergo gender reassignment so he can live comfortably according to his biological identity.
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Featured image adapted from Kompas, Sinar Harian