Transpersons tell their stories

Born in the wrong body: “Just wanted to be me”

Valerie Lenk is in her late forties, a mother of four, married and transgender.(Bild: Imre Antal)

Valerie Lenk (49) and Sam Vincent Schweiger (50) share a common fate: they were both born in the "wrong" body. The "Krone" talks to them about their fates and discusses how gender reassignment surgery works with surgeons.

"I was always a woman, I tried to fight it for a long time, but that's just the way I am." Valerie Lenk is in her late forties, a mother of four, married and transgender. Her gender identity and her birth gender simply don't match. "I had a difficult childhood and it was strange for me during puberty. I didn't know what it was, but I realized that something wasn't right," Valerie remembers. The issue of gender hangs over Lenk like a ghost.