“Our society accepts us after transforming into men”

Sadeyya who became Mohamed and Heba who became Ahmed They were born and grew up as females in Daqahliyah district in Egypt as Heba, 17, and Sadeyya, 23, until they transformed into men as Mohamed and Ahmed. Mohamed, the youngest, told Arabstoday that they have always, from a very young age, felt inside as though they were male, and that although they had male genitals their parents treated them as female, until one day they went to the doctor and after a checkup he discovered that they were in fact male and informed their parents; they were in fourth grade by them. They said that is the reason why they could not marry either a man or a woman, and that their father then was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Mohamed added: “I used to feel very frustrated every minute of the day inside when I used to go to the Azhari Institute to study with girls, and I used to make any excuse so that I wouldn’t get close to other girls, in addition to being isolated from communicating with our female relatives and neighbours.”
Mohamed pointed put to a strange incident when a man once came and proposed to him, but that he refused and assured his parents that he is not fit to marry, until he could not handle it anymore and began to announce that he is in fact a man in front of his village people, in addition to dress up as a man and cutting his hair as one. Mohamed said: “I feel today as though I am a new person and was born again, I felt like I was in a prison and deprived from life, but what’s even better is that the people of my village are really happy with us.”
Mohamed said that he used to study in the Nursing department but is now not allowed to go there as it is for women only. He is currently undergoing procedures to change his name to Mohamed in his birth certificate and will then apply to Tanta Institute for nursing which is for male students.
 As for Ahmed, he has a BA in Sciences from Al Azhar University and told Arabstoday: “I am currently waiting to undergo gender-transforming surgery to become fully male and I will then change my name in my birth certificate so that I could live my life as normal.” He added: “I thought my life would continue as a woman while I considered myself a man and my dream was to join the army so that I could join my friends, but this prevented me from making my dream come true and that’s why I went to University.”
Ahmed stressed that his family and his village people were al happy after their announcement, pointing out that they would have rejected them if they were to turn from males into females because of society and its traditions, as they now act completely as men everywhere they go and pray with men in mosques as well.