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Fatwa CenterHe was born hermaphrodite and needs a sex change operation
Question
Hello, I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina. My english is simple but i hope you understand.
I was born hermaphrodite. My diagnostic says that my gender is male. But I was not operated because the operation is complicated and risky. I read what you posted and now I'm confused. Am I obligated to operate? What do I do? Can I get married? Do I have to cover my body (as women) to be operated? Can you send me information?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
First of all, you should know that this is a test for you and we advise you to be patient and keep observing the Sharee‘ah rulings related to the hermaphrodite. In brief, these rulings include:
If you are sure that you are a male, you should be treated as a male and it is not permissible for you to undergo any operation to change into a female. However, you are permitted to undergo an operation to remove the features of femininity.
On the other hand, if a person is not sure about his actual gender, he is considered a problematic hermaphrodite. In this case, this person is dealt with according to rulings which are safest, as previously clarified in Fatwa 82158. This type of hermaphrodite is allowed to undergo an operation to change into a male or a female according to the opinion of the doctors, as previously clarified in Fatwa 82770. It is not permissible for him to disclose anything from his ‘Awrah to the doctor except for necessity.
As for marriage, if the hermaphrodite has a clear gender and has undergone a sex change operation with its conditions, then it is permissible to marry him. That is because he is no longer hermaphrodite; he belongs to his current gender. If he is still problematic, it will be impermissible to marry him since he is treated according to the rulings which are safest as mentioned above. However, Ash-Shaafi‘i 
was reported to have said that marrying him (the problematic hermaphrodite) is lawful. In “Al-Umm”, he said: "If he is problematic he is allowed to marry according to the gender he wishes. However, if he married according to one gender, he would not be allowed to marry again according to the other gender.”
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