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Emirati women seeking sex change appeal court's decision rejecting request in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - They suffer from congenital defects and have masculine features; sex change operation recommended.

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Three young women have appealed a UAE court's decision rejecting their request to change their gender and their names.
The women wanted to change their gender and and have their female names changed in the government national registry.

The Emirati women, all aged under 25, had filed a lawsuit in the Abu Dhabi Federal Court First Instance seeking permission to be allowed to become men after reportedly undergoing sex-change operations abroad.
The court had however rejected their request and denied them permission for sex-change.
The trio challenged the ruling in the Federal Appeal Court, which has started proceedings of their case.
Their lawyer, Ali Abdullah Al Mansouri, had argued in the appeal court that the local medical committee appointed by the first court - to examine the conditions of his client and issue a medical report on their eligibility for sex change - acknowledged in their report that the women had sexual disorders which cannot be reversed, but failed to recommend them for a sex change.
"The report by the medical committee was briefed and didn't look extensively into the fact that the young women had suffered from this gender disorder since childhood," said the lawyer.
Al Mansouri said the young women have felt as if they were men from an early age - and that denying them this would affect them psychologically, which could lead to depression.
"They feel that they are men trapped in women's bodies and they want to overcome this by getting the court's permission for sex change," said the lawyer.
The women had presented - the court - documents, medical reports from European hospitals that recommended the sex-change operations.

Al Mansouri had earlier said that the Emirati women had underwent sex-change operations in a European country after suffering from congenital defects and having masculine features, including 'too much' hair on their legs, deep voices and other features "that distinguished them from women".

The lawyer noted that his clients had received "many medical reports" that recommended the sex-change operations.

The Federal Law No. (4) of 2016 on medical matters, permits a sex-change operation if a person's gender is unclear or if a medical examination confirms that their physical features do not match their biological, physiological and genetic characteristics, according to the lawyer.

The trial was adjourned until March.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi