Pain of growing up with dual sexual identity

• 24-year-old Daniel seeks help, saying he is tired of being taunted by friends

His distressed mother said Kighala’s breasts started developing when he reached adolescence.

She’s desperate for help to have Kighala secure medical treatment so that the condition may be rectified.

“I want to know whether my child is female or male,” said Ms Mkashambi, adding that she will accept her child in any gender.

A teacher at a school where Kighala used to attend, Ms Honorinah Mwashighadi, said she got concerned when she heard the boy’s story from the villagers and at the school.

Making fun

“People in the village were making fun out of Kighala’s plight so I decided to help them secure assistance since they come from a poor family,” said Ms Mwashighadi.

“I talked to my brother who agreed to accommodate them in Mombasa where medical help may be available,” said the teacher, who met transport costs for Kighala and his mother from Mtomogoti Sisera area in Taita district.

According to medical experts, Kighala’s condition is rare but not uncommon. Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi has performed surgery on people, including adults, with two sets of sexual organs.

The treatment involves first establishing which sexual identity is dominant or preferred by the patient, and them performing surgery to remove the unwanted organs.

The treatment may also involve a regiment of drugs, hormone treatment, to help repress features of the unwanted identity, and enhance the required features, such as beards and deep voice for men and breasts for women.