Huiming* was in her early twenties when she decided to remove her male genitalia. But living in China, her options were limited. For one, gender-affirming surgery in the country is only available to individuals diagnosed as mentally ill, which Huiming was not. It also requires the permission of an individual’s family – something Huiming felt certain she would not obtain. Going overseas for the operation was another option, but one Huiming simply could not afford. “Operations were rumoured to cost more than $30,000 back then,” she said. “That is more than the lifetime savings of many families.” In desperation, Huiming* tried putting ice on her male genitals to stop them functioning and even booked a surgery with a black-market doctor, but the doctor was arrested before her surgery was done.So she felt she had only one choice left: Huiming would perform the surgery herself. “I was very happy and scared. I was scared because I was bleeding so badly – I could have died right there. I was also scared because I would still die a man, since I only did part of the surgery,” Huiming, now 30, told Amnesty International. Her story is shocking, but in China it is sadly not unique. Discrimination and stigma against the transgender community pervades all walks of life – including the medical and legal professions – and has left individuals such as Huiming to take drastic and often dangerous measures in their quest to become themselves.
respect nature & human rights