A woman in India discovered that she was a man suffering from testicular cancer while getting treatment for abdominal pain at a Kolkata hospital.

According to reports, the woman led a normal life with no complications for 30 years. Her 28-year-old sister, who underwent necessary tests following the revelation, was also diagnosed with ‘Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome’ — a condition in which a person is born genetically male, but has all physical traits of a woman.

Read more – Peshawar High Court allows woman to change her sex

RELATED STORIES

The 30-year-old woman is also married for the last nine years. She visited city-based Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Cancer Hospital with severe pain in lower abdomen a couple of months ago, following which clinical oncologist Dr Anupam Dutta and surgical oncologist Dr Soumen Das conducted her medical tests, and found out her “true identity”.

“From her appearance, she is a woman. Starting from her voice, developed breasts, normal external genitalia, everything is that of a woman. However, uterus and ovaries have been absent since birth. She has also never experienced menstruation,” Dr Dutta said.

It’s a very rare condition, and can be found one in every 22,000 people, he said. A biopsy was conducted, following which she was diagnosed with testicular cancer, also called seminoma.

Currently, she is undergoing chemotherapy and her condition is stable.

“The person has grown up to be a woman. She is married to a man for almost a decade. Currently, we are counselling the patient and her husband, advising them to continue living life as they have been.”

Reports reveal that the couple had tried for babies a number of times but failed. The patient’s two maternal aunts were also diagnosed with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome in the past, the oncologist said.

“It’s probably in the genes. We have come to know that two of her aunts from the maternal side were also suffering from a similar condition,” he added.