Australian model born with male and female genitals shares goal to save money for surgery

An Australian model who was born with a penis and a vagina has kick started her modeling career despite being tormented growing up.

Nowra born Sophia Young, was only eight when doctors discovered her ovaries were positioned abnormally, one being much higher than the other.

As she grew up, both reproductive organs developed, but her parents raised her as a boy and changed her name to Harrison.

Speaking with Daily Mail, Ms Young said she wanted to get rid all of her male parts so she could have a ‘sense of normality’.

The 22-year-old hoped to earn enough money through her modeling career to fund her genital correction surgery.

She was currently in the process of changing her name back from Harrison to Sophia.

Before she began modeling, Ms Young said she was constantly bullied before she dropped out of school in year 11.

“I got suspended a lot at school and bullied lots, it was really bad,” she told Daily Mail.

Ms Young has Asperger’s syndrome and didn’t start to walk or talk until she was five years old.

“I was a slow developer, I didn't get on well, I got bullied and teased so much that I used to isolate myself so much from kids in the playground that I became a loner and the other kids viewed me as strange,” she said.

She said she became an angry child who once punched another kid in the face and broke school property as a result of ‘bottling up pain’.

She said the relentless bullying she endured resulted in multiple suicide attempts.

At 21-years-old Ms Young moved to Sydney where she found the modeling world.

“One of my friends told me I looked pretty interesting and that I should start to model but I didn't think much of it as I was very rough on the outside and have a big, blunt personality,” she said.

She has since been signed to various agencies but said it had been difficult finding work.

“Every company or client is looking for either a male or female, but if you're both they don't want it,” she said.

“Inter-sex and androgynous models are still considered taboo in the industry.”

She said her goal with modeling was to raise the $60,000 needed to fund her surgery.

Ms Young also started a Go Fund Me Page to try to raise the money but she has since removed it and refunded the money to those who donated.

“I didn't want to feel like I was sponging off other people. I took it down because I feel guilty for taking money from people that work hard for it, I want to try get the money through modeling,” she said.