Identical twins Mayla and Sofia underwent the same five-hour-long gender reassignment surgery after ‘never identifying as boys’ while growing up.
The 19-year-olds grew up in south east Brazil, saying they never felt comfortable in their male bodies and dreamed of transitioning.
In February 2021, they both underwent sex reassignment surgery. They say that they have always known that they were girls. The 19-year-old Rezende who is currently studying medicine stated in an interview that, “I always loved my body, but I didn’t like my genitalia.”
Gender reassignment surgery is covered under Brazil’s nationalised health care, but there are only five public hospitals that perform the procedure and the waiting list is long. The twins contacted a private clinic and were able to undergo surgery sooner. On February 11 and 12, they received gender reassignment surgery.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Jose Carlos Martins of the Transgender Centre Brazil. According to the doctor, “This is the only reported case in the world of twins who were presumed to be male at birth undergoing female gender confirmation surgery together.”
The twins had the support of their family, and their grandfather auctioned off property that he owned to pay for the surgeries. Rezende told the local media that she aims to graduate in medicine and buy another house for her grandparents to repay their gesture.
Brazil is known for being one of the most transphobic states. According to the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals in Brazil, 175 trans people in Brazil were murdered in 2020.
