I was a sickly baby - crying. Keeping the family awake.
My parents separated before I was born, so my Mum, brother and I lived with my maternal grandparents flat in Chelsea, London.
At 6 weeks old I developed a hernia and had to be taken to the doctors, which then followed my first operation to fix the hernia and remove my left gonad.
Then at 9 months old I had my second operation to remove the other gonad, as they were concerned that as it didn't form properly this could turn cancerous. At the same time - my first cosmetic surgery was performed on me.
I was born with an enlarged clitoris and the doctors wanted to do this procedure, a Clitoridectomy, to make my physical gender conform to 'social norms'.
It wasn’t until I was 25 that having this procedure came to light. You can find out more about this here.
Aged 13...
At 13 I had my third surgery - this was probably the most traumatic (at the time) as I was older and more aware that I was having surgery.
I went into hospital and was told I was going in for a routine exploratory operation, when in fact I was undergoing a cosmetic procedure called a ‘vaginaoplasty’.
The objective of this surgery is the construction or reconstruction of the vagina - which I had no idea about. And the sad truth is the only reason why this is done is so that it looks ‘normal’ and so that intercourse is ’smoother’.
When I awoke from the operation I was paralysed from the waist down, which as you can imagine - for a 13 year old, is petrifying, especially if you don’t know why.
But, life as normal - went on. I had 6 weeks recovery at my grandmothers house, then back to school!
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