A Saudi man's sex-change operation may cost him half his fortune, the Times of London reported Tuesday.
Relatives said the man identified only as Ahmad is due just half the fortune he inherited from his father because Ahmad now is a woman. Under Islamic law, women inherit only half the amount a man may inherit.
Ahmad's story has "riveted the public in the ultra-conservative kingdom," the newspaper said.
Ahmad, in a magazine interview, said he felt different even as a child, and investigated changing his gender while a teenager in the United States. He kept his desire secret until after the death of his father, and then underwent the operation using the inheritance. Later, Ahmad returned to Saudi Arabia, dressed as a man, and finally told his siblings about his sex-change operation after his mother's death.
In Saudi Arabia, changing sexual identity is referred to as a sex "correction," the newspaper said. Only people born with some characteristics of the opposite sex are allowed by religious scholars to undergo the surgery.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
