"Tica" Has Sex Change Operation Then Marries Woman
From the unusual department comes the story of a Taiwanese woman, naturalized in Costa Rica, had a sex change operation to, months later marry a woman. Yuan Chai became a Costa Rican citizen in 1985 when she was a single woman, years later to return to Costa Rica as a married man.

The report was first broadcast yesterday on Radio América, telling the story of Chai who has lived for almost a decade as man and wife with Hou Sheng-Chu and her battler to have the married registered in Costa Rica's Registro Civil - civil registry - notwithstanding that current laws impede such.

Yuan Chai was born in Taipei, Taiwan, as a woman in 1957. Years later she emigrated to Costa Rica and obained her naturalization in 1986, registered as a woman.

Following obtaining her Costa Rican citizenship, Chai returned to her country of origin and begins the process of a sex change. In 1994, Chai, now a man, married Sheng-Chu, a Taiwan national who, according to the story, knew nothing of the sex change.

Chai, the man, decides to return to Costa Rica with his wife, to form a life. In 1999 Chai decides, again without the knowledge of Sheng-Su, to change her civil record to show that she is now a man.

Not knowing of her partners sex change and the civil registry, Sheng-Su decides to register the marriage to Chai in Costa Rica and following protocol and Costa Rican laws, visits a notary public to comply with the regulations of registering the union.

This is where Sheng-Su gets the surprise of her life, as the Registro denied registering the marriage based on the fact that the husband, Chai, was registered as a woman. Sheng-Su tells that up to this time, the couple maintained a healthy sexual relationship and never suspected anything.

Now that the secret was out, the couple, together decide to appeal to the Constitutional Courts against the Registro Civil for violating their rights in refusing to register the marriage, even though Chai was submitted to a physical exam to prove his/her change of sex.

Oscar Volaboa zarrabal, lawyer for the couple, says that the Registro is acting outside of its jurisdiction because there is no authority that can doubt the sex of a person. Zarrabal argues that the Registro cannot deny to register a marriage based on a person having to prove his or her sex and being submitted to a physical exam of the genitalia.

Marisol Castro, director of the Registro, differs in opinion. Castro explains that the Registro has the legal right to deny a registration when the sex of a person is in doubt as a result of a sex change operation. For their part, Registro magistrates, Virginia Calzada and Fernando Cruz, have reserved their vote waiting the outcome of the appeal before the Constitutional Court.

The couple say that they never had a problem until coming to Costa Rica.

For the time being the couple is being tight lipped about the situation, preferring to let their lawyer do the talking and wait the outcome of the Constitutional Court decision before taking the next step. The couple did indicate to the media that this is strictly a private matter and is of no interest to the country to know their situation.