The story of a factory worker in China with dual reproductive systems, who has had children with both a man and woman, has shocked the nation. - Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Weibo
BEIJING: A woman in southwestern China who has two reproductive systems has given birth to a wave of fascination across mainland social media.
Her condition, coupled with the twists and turns of her life, has left her in remarkable position of being, all at once, a “mother” and a “father” to two sons produced from two different marriages, the first to a man and then to a woman.
The 59-year-old, born in a village in Bishan county of Chongqing municipality, remains a woman, according to her identity card, the Chongqing Morning Post reported.
She developed different preferences and dispositions from most girls in her childhood.
For example, she liked cutting her hair short and wearing male clothes.
When she used the girl’s toilet at school, the woman, surnamed Liu, was often told she was going to the wrong place because she looked so much like a boy, the report said.
At the age of 18, Liu married a man surnamed Tang, with whom she had a son within a year.
However, not long after that her body experienced incomprehensible changes. A surge of androgenic hormones saw her begin to grow a beard and her breasts diminished in size.
She even developed male reproductive organs. Her husband could not handle the change and divorced her.
After leaving their son to the now estranged father, Liu moved to another county where she worked in a shoe factory and lived as a man.
There, a female colleague surnamed Zhou fell in love with him.
At first, Liu resisted Zhou’s approaches because of his special physical condition, but he became moved by Zhou’s persistence and sincerity and came to accept her.
Despite Liu’s condition, Zhou insisted on marrying him.
However, their marriage faced a legal obstacle because Liu’s ID card showed his gender was still female. Homosexual marriage is outlawed in China.
Liu resorted to her former husband Tang for help. She asked Tang to register a marriage with Zhou and in return Liu promised to contribute more financially towards the upbringing of their son. Tang agreed.
After living with Liu for several years, Zhou fell pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy in the early 2000s.
As a result Liu has two sons, one who calls him “mum” and the other “dad”.
Liu’s story was first reported by the newspaper in 2005, and attracted enormous attention nationwide.
Some doctors approached him, offering to carry out a physical check-up for him, but their offers were declined.
Liu said he has not undergone a transgender surgery yet because of the cost.
This means the gender information on his ID card has not been changed.
His story resurfaced online recently and sparked a wave of interest on mainland social media.
“My goodness, this is unbelievable!” said one online observer.
While another person said: “She has such a rich life experiences. Being a woman and then a man, a mother and then a father.” - South China Morning Post
