China Scene: West

Parents refuse offspring's request for sex change op

A woman going by the name of Xiao Yan has decided to cut all ties with her parents because they refuse to let her undergo a gender-change operation.

The 27-year-old farmer from Hechuan district, Chongqing municipality, has felt trapped in the wrong body since June, 1998, when she was a middle school student. When she explained to her parents how she felt they beat her. Xiao has since made 62 suicide attempts, but her parents remain obdurate in their refusal to let her have surgery.