75. Today in 1920s Turkey: 8 April 1928 (Gender Reassignment Surgery)
English
A Small Child Has Also Become Male
The child that you see sitting in the nurse’s lap in this picture is four-year-old Ms. Hadiye who was operated on at the Izmir State Hospital; she turned from a girl to a boy and now his name is Mr. Hidayet. It would have been better if the innocent little one had grown up a little before becoming a boy, he would have better understood both the feminine and masculine; now who knows, if they tell him this story when he grows up, he may not even believe it. Or maybe by that time he will have changed his gender back to become a woman!
Türkçe
Küçük bir Yavru da Erkek Oldu
İzmir Memleket Hastanesi’nde şu yandaki resimde hasta bakıcı hanımın kucağında gördüğünüz henüz dört yaşında bir yavru olan Hadiye Hanım’a ameliyet yapılmış, kızken erkek olmuş, adı da Hidayet Bey konmuştur. Ma’sumcağız biraz büyüyüp sonra erkek olsaydı daha iyidi, hem kadınlığı, hem de erkekliği iyice anlardı, büyüyünce bu hikayeyi kendisine anlattıkları zaman kim bilir, belki de inanmaz. Yahutta o zamana kadar yine cinsiyet değiştirip sakın kadın olmasın!
Comments:
The earliest somewhat successful gender reassignment surgeries were carried out in the early 1930s. However, presumably many unsuccessful operations were performed prior to that. This story likely covers one such early attempt. Further research would be required to determine the ultimate fate of this child’s procedure, but considering it precedes the earliest known or recorded successes, it was likely a failure. From this article, it is not clear what procedures the operation entailed and how invasive or extensive it was, however, the maturity of the patient, a child of 4 years, is specified in the text.
The brief snippet does leave us with more questions than answers. For instance, we have no idea why the child’s gender was changed. The child could have had ambiguous organs or two sets of organs or perhaps it was the parents’ personal choice. Was it necessary or elective? Was there a reason the surgery was performed at such a young age? The title, which states “A Small Child Has ALSO Become Male,” raises additional questions. The use of “also” suggests that this is not the first gender reassignment surgery overall, but only the first operation performed on someone so young. So how many have happened, when was the first attempt, and did the patients survived them?
Finally, the story ends with some thoughts on the future of this child and whether or not he will comprehend what has just happened to him. Rather than questioning the validity, necessity, or morality of the surgery, the author wonders whether it was too early for the surgery. The author acknowledges that the child did not have a choice in the matter and that maybe, if left to grow up, they’d decide for themselves if they want to remain a woman or become a man. In the end, the author ponders this boy’s future and wonders whether he will grow up to want to change back to a woman.
Originally published at https://steemit.com on April 9, 2017.
