Pakistani Girl Ghazala becomes ‘Abdullah’ after Sex Change

Ghazala Ayub, aged 18, from Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district in Pakistan, underwent a sex change and has now become a boy.

His father Muhammad Ayub is pleased with the surgery and has named his child Abdullah.

During childhood, Ghazala was raised with limited interaction with the opposite gender due to the local customs and traditions.

The teenager had both male and female features during childhood, however, due to more feminine characteristics, Ghazala was considered a girl.

She studied at an all-girls school and passed her final-year exams with flying colours in 2018.

The family only came to know about the hormonal changes Ghazala was going through when they noticed a beard appearing on their daughter’s face.

They took her to a hospital in Islamabad, where doctors conducted a gender-change procedure. The surgery was a success and now Ghazala is a boy.

After passing the exams, Ghazala was enrolled in the intermediate college of Chilas, where she will now be recognised as a boy.

Mr Ayub spoke about the surgery and said that he was happy about it.

He said his family of eight daughters and three sons has turned into a family of seven daughters and four sons overnight.

Mr Ayub said his wife passed away not too long ago and the entire family was finding it difficult to cope without her.

However, the “good news” of Ghazala’s gender change has transformed their grief into joy.

He added that everybody is happy to have another boy in the home. Mr Ayub explained that his relatives and neighbours are visiting their home to congratulate them.

Undergoing a medical procedure to change your gender is considered to be a taboo in Pakistan.

But when natural signs of the other gender appear, doctors do perform sex-change procedures.

There have been several similar cases in Pakistan. One included a 22-year-old girl seeking approval from Peshawar High Court so that she can have a sex change.

Kainat Murad, from Hazara, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, filed a written petition at Peshawar High Court.

She said that being a woman in the area was difficult and added that she was the sole earner in her family.

In another case, a 28-year-old unnamed woman from Islamabad went to the high court to seek legal permission in order to have the procedure done.

She also wanted the court’s permission to have her official records changed once the procedure was successfully completed.