I'll see Exo's Gay Sheep and Raise You This

[Dade]

Unhappy as a boy, Kim became youngest ever transsexual at 12
By Bojan Pancevski in Vienna, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:12am GMT 29/01/2007



A 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.

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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."

Kim reacted badly to the first signs of puberty, he said. "At that stage we realised that she was terrified of growing facial hair and her voice breaking."

Kim's parents consulted psychiatrists across Germany. Some condemned their support of their child's desire to undergo a sex change, or suggested that Kim be kept under observation in a closed psychiatric ward. But others agreed that the child should receive therapy, because growing up to be a man would have damaged her personality.

Dr Bern Meyenburg, the head of a clinic for children and adolescents with identity disturbances at Frankfurt University, concluded that the child was serious. He wrote in his diagnosis: "Kim is a mentally well-developed child who appears happy and balanced. There is no doubt of the determined wish, that was already detectable since early childhood. It would have been very wrong to let Kim grow up to be a man. It is rare to have such a clear-cut case."

Kim is reportedly fully accepted by her fellow school pupils and teachers. The costs of the procedure are being covered by health insurance, as the condition qualifies as an illness.

Dr Achim Wuesthof, an endocrinologist specialising in children and adolescents, who is treating the teenager at a clinic in Hamburg, said the procedure had been a success so far. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, he said that even though under-16s were not permitted to undergo a sex change in other countries, he and his colleagues felt that in this case it had been best to start earlier. He said: "To the best of my knowledge, Kim is the youngest sex change patient in the world. According to German law, two independent psychiatrists must confirm that the child is indeed transsexual and approve the sex change. Once that has been done, it is best to start as early as possible.

"Transsexuals experience the onset of puberty, and the physical changes it brings, as a serious trauma. But there is a general lack of empathy with cases like Kim's, mostly because people know little about the condition. Imagine a man that suddenly starts growing breasts or a woman that starts growing a beard against their will – that is how Kim and people like her experience puberty.

"They are not freaks, nor do they suffer mental illness. They are simply trapped in the wrong bodies. That is why it is best to help them as early as possible and reduce the trauma for them and their families."

The problem that Dr Meyenburg and other psychiatrists faced was distinguishing a true transsexual personality from a temporary gender identity crisis. Dr Meyenburg quoted an example of a 15-year-old girl who wanted to change her sex, but who revealed during counselling that she had suffered brutal sexual abuse by her father – a case for psychological, rather than hormonal therapy.

Should Kim change her mind before the surgery, the procedure could be reversed. Doctors admit that the treatment involves a risk, however, and that its effects on children as young as Kim are not fully understood.

For legal reasons, the final stage – cosmetic surgery to remove the male genitalia – cannot take place until Kim is 18. Britain's youngest transsexual is Angel Paris-Jordan, who was granted an operation on the NHS at the age of 17.

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Thoughts?

[sparx]

at 12, don't boys still think girls are icky?

oh well. I'm no one to judge. more power to him, I suppose.

[Rebel]

The doctors and parents should be shot.

[Mr. Submission]

Come on... you can't let that happen. Let the boy mature to at least some extent for fucks sake...

[RTT]

That's just wrong. I could've sworn that you can't get a Sex Change until you're 18.

[Xer]

Originally Posted by Dade

Kim is reportedly fully accepted by her fellow school pupils and teachers. The costs of the procedure are being covered by health insurance, as the condition qualifies as an illness.

Obviously they accept it..all they had to do was change one letter when addressing him uhhhh her.

At least they regard it as an illness...suffering from 'being German' disease.

[lithium-jane]

at the age of 12, the boy would be going through puberty and it can be a confusing thing, I think the kid should have waited untill he was 18 before deciding wether he wanted to be a girl or not. And I mean, how easy would it be to convince psychs and others that you wanted to be a girl? "oh yeah, I play with barbies and wear dresses, so I really should be a girl, I feel like a girl".

I'm sorry, i'm trying my best to not be discrimitive about it but I just believe that you are born a certain sex and thats just it, you were chosen to be that sex for a reason, depending on what you believe or don't believe in. There should be no turning back.

Hell, i've heard people saying on programs about the subject, that transexuality is just a fetish, nothing else. I don't really have an opinion on that at all, I don't want to become discriminative about the whole subject so I just let it be.

But a 12 year old is just a different thing.

[Jethro]

As the father, I wouldn't have let him do it. If he wanted to so bad, I'd make him wait til he was moved out and out of my control forever. I'd probably stop talking to my son if he did that.

[pyXL]

Good for him... her... kinda. I think twelve is a l'il too young, though.

[Exo]

When I was 12, I wanted to be an astronaut or a fighter pilot. Why fuck didn't I get to fly in them? Seems somewhat less damaging than modifying your body to an opposite sex.

But who should be suprised? 12 year olds are getting nose jobs and abortions and it hardly seems to raise an eyebrow these days. It's never too early to start playing god.

[The_One]

Originally Posted by Rebel

The doctors and parents should be shot.

Exactly. FTW.

[David]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

Come on... you can't let that happen. Let the boy mature to at least some extent for fucks sake...

Bah who cares. The family said he's been playing with Barbies and wearing dresses his whole life. I think it's good for him. I just feel bad for any guy who fucks him/her thinking that he/she is a real girl.

[Mr. Submission]

Clearly, a 12 year old is not mature enough to make such life-altering decisions. I can't believe I've dignified your post with a response, tbh.

[sparx]

Originally Posted by David

Bah who cares. The family said he's been playing with Barbies and wearing dresses his whole life. I think it's good for him. I just feel bad for any guy who fucks him/her thinking that he/she is a real girl.

Technically, she is a real girl now.

Legally, a cross dresser is whatever gender they're dressed like. Same goes for a sex change. She's a girl now.

[Rebel]

Originally Posted by sparx

Technically, she is a real girl now.

Legally, a cross dresser is whatever gender they're dressed like. Same goes for a sex change. She's a girl now.

No its not a girl. Its a freak.