Iran ranks second in the world in the number of sex-reassignment surgeries performed each year.

The Iranian government goes so far as to subsidize the surgeries, paying up to half of the high expenses of both surgery and treatment. Iran says an average of 300 of these surgeries are performed in the country each year.

In 1987, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa gave the green light for sex-reassignment surgeries. While many consider the now-female Maryam Molkara the first Iranian transsexual to undergo sex-reassignment surgery in 1987, a 60-year-old issue of the Iranian Ettelaat newspaper cites an earlier case. The newspaper ran the story of a proud and happy girl-turned-boy Farhad (formerly Farideh) and his nurse in Tehran’s Pahlavi hospital.

“Deep down, Farideh had always felt she’s a boy,” his mother said, “so I brought her to Tehran from our city [Shabestar, in western Azerbaijan] for evaluation." As Ettelaat informs us, Farideh successfully underwent surgery and treatment in Tehran and when interviewed, expressed enthusiasm for serving in the military.