Sex Change & Its Implication on Spouse Relationship

At the present time one of the emerging issues in medicine, psychology, sociology &law is sex change. Jurisprudence and legal works have explained provisions and duties of two groups of people who experience gender disorder namely: transgender and deformed genitalia in detail. A recent finding of Psychiatric knowledge reveals that some people suffer from transsexual problem-another new type of sex disorder which is distinguished from the other two categories mentioned above by its unique symptoms. In fact sex change is the exact term which can describe this group of people. Many contemporary Islamic jurist and lawyers allow sex change, but the impact and the legal consequences of this problem particularly on spouse relationship have not been thoroughly explained. Benefiting from the legal and theological sources and the legitimate reasoning of sex change, its impact on family legal system such as marriage, marriage portion, wife's waiting period, child custody and inheritance will be clarified in this paper. Ultimately it tries to justify the women's right that in case of her ignorance of gender problem of the opposite sex can lodge an appeal to the court of law for irreconcilable certificate.