An Italian government worker who recently changed gender to become Sergia Lazarovich did it so she could retire earlier, a relative has claimed

An Argentinian tax worker who changed his gender on official documents after claiming to identify as female actually did it in order to retire earlier, a relative says.

Sergia Lazarovich, 60, a government worker from the northern province of Salta, applied to change her gender in June last year, having lived for decades as Sergio.

The change was approved recently but a relative has since come forward to accuse Sergia of lying and trying to cheat the pension system.

Argentinian law allows any person to change their gender on identity documents to match their self-perception, without having to provide evidence of hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery.

The law also allow women to retire on a state pension aged 60, whereas men have to wait until age 65.

The relative told Informate Salta: 'His conviction is that it is unfair that, because he is a man, he has to work five years more than a woman.

'He has been working on this for more than three years and was advised by lawyers and the first plan was to make a complaint to the State citing discrimination.

'But it was an option that could have taken many years and no one could guarantee that the court would rule in his favor.'

Argentinian law states that women can retire aged 60, while men must retire aged 65. Changing gender means Sergia is eligible for retirement now, instead of in five years

Sergia has been in multiple heterosexual relationships including with the mother of her two children to whom she was married for 25 years.

She has never expressed an interest in men, and continued dating women even after registering for the change, the relative said.

Sergia has also never expressed an interest in living as a woman before and even made disparaging comments about gays and transsexuals, the relative claimed.

Confronted by the statement, Sergia accused newspapers of printing lies and said the decision to change genders was personal.

'The motivations are mine and I do not have to explain anything to anyone,' he told the El Tribuno newspaper.

Officials in Salta said Lazarovich has not yet applied for the state pension, though confirmed she would be eligible to do so.

Once the application has been received it will be forward to lawyers to decide whether the claim is legitimate, officials added.