14 DAY TRIAL // At only 15 years old, one teenager has already dealt with more problems than many of her peers. Her name is Raven El Messaoudi and she’s transgender. At the same time, she’s struggling to lose almost half her body weight to qualify for gender reassignment surgery.
Raven is from Johannesburg, South Africa and, until 10 months ago, she was still dressing like a boy, the Daily Mail reports after meeting her and her mother.
She’s been bullied and humiliated in countless ways, until she finally decided it was time she braved all haters and just be the person she knew she was on the inside.
“I'm not gay, I'm transgender. I'm a girl stuck in a boy's body and if you can't accept it, then it's your problem,” she told her school mates when they started bullying her.
The problem with Raven right now is that she’s obese, after learning from her mother to eat for comfort.
Currently, she weighs 26 stone (364 pounds / 165 kg) and must lose about half her body weight to be able to undergo surgery to become a woman.
“We both know it's going to take a long time. But it's good to have something to work towards. Mum wants me to be sure of my decision to become a woman before I undergo any permanent changes,” Raven says.
By the time she’s 21, she must be slimmer and healthier. Only afterwards will she be able to get breast surgery and gender reassignment.
Raven also talks about her diet from before, the one that got her obese: breakfast consisted of 14 fried eggs on toast, a Big Mac with fries, 3 cheeseburgers and 2 McFlurries.
For dinner, she would have pasta with 4 pieces of fried chicken and a full tub of icecream for dessert. Snacks included many a bar of chocolate.
Luckily, both Raven and her mother know now where they were mistaken in their approach to food.