LAHORE: A girl underwent a gender reassignment surgery at the Lahore General Hospital (LGH) on Saturday after which she changed her name from Amara to Ammar.

Amara, a matriculation student, was admitted to the LGH after showing signs of the opposite gender.

The head of the Department Plastic Surgery, Dr Rumana Akhlaq, along with assistant professors Dr Muhammad Nasrullah and Dr Muhammad Imran, performed the complicated procedure that lasted for four hours.

After the surgery and recovery, Amara’s parents changed her name to Ammar and the patient was discharged from the hospital.

Dr Akhlaq said after various diagnostic tests at the hospital, it was decided to perform the surgery on the patient.

Ameeruddin Medical College Principal Dr Sardar Al-Freed Zafar said gender reassignment was possible only when the boy or girl showed signs of the opposite sex, hormonal changes and the related issues. The doctors would check up the patient and determine whether the sex change was necessary, he added.

Dr Zafar said such gender reassignment operations were being carried out in Pakistan as per requirement but not as a fashion.

The family of the teenager said that since the childhood Amara (now Ammar) was showing different signs and in puberty, her face began to grow like a man’s, which led to a hormonal check-up at the LGH.

After the sex change, Ammar said everyone was happy after the successful surgery and his world had changed as girls at school used to make fun of the boyish voice.

“Now I have become a boy for which I am very happy. These moments are nothing short of a miracle for me,” Ammar added.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2021