

A pair of 25-year old twin sisters will legally become brothers when they complete their gender reassignment surgery at a Shanghai Hospital. The Chinese-born identical twins have already begun the complicated medical procedure which could take months.



So far, their first surgical operation has been successful, according to the AFP. "They said they would continue to save up (money) from hard work so they can return for their respective last phases of surgery," their surgeon Zhao Yede told Shangai Daily.



For now, the twins are keeping their identity under-wraps out of fear they would lose their current jobs. It's worth the risk for the siblings who live as men, but aren't legally considered male until their surgery is complete. When they've finished their procedures, they'll be the first transgender twins in China.



Identicial twins who share the desire to change sexes are by, all standards, rare- particularly if they're both born female. A 2005 report on a pair of 18 year old identical twin sisters who identified themselves as transsexual and were referred for gender reassigment surgery, were considered the first on record according to the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. That same report suggests a genetic and biological link to their shared sexual identity.



But another set of identical twins have a different story to share. This past December, the Maines, a pair of 14-year-old American siblings born as brothers, became known as brother and sister when one underwent hormone therapy.



While Jonas has always felt completely comfortable being a boy, his sister Nicole (born Wyatt) always believed she was really a girl. Now her family has accepted her physical transition, potentially leading to surgery when she turns 18. "I have always known I was a girl,'' Nicole told the Boston Globe. "I think what I'm aiming for is to undergo surgery to get a physical female body that matches up to my image of myself.''



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