So determined was this Singapore transgender woman to live her life as female-presenting that if she died from her gender reassignment surgery, she told her doctor to complete the surgery and “bury her with a vagina”.
28-year-old Andrea Razali, a model with Phantom Models, shared her story in a video with Zula about how she went from teen unsure of herself to stunning model but not without a story of heartbreak, abuse, and trauma.
When she was young, she told her parents that she wanted the toys and merch from the cartoon series Powerpuff Girls after watching it on television.
After playing with them, she said her parents were not overjoyed but they did not stop her from playing with those toys.
“I think that’s when I knew I wasn’t normal,” she said to Zula.
Andrea had to endure bullying in her teenage years with people calling her a “fat sissy char siew pau”, referring to the pork bun dish.
It was when she was 19 years old when she saw a video by transgender YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous and Andrea immediately knew that she was transgender.
After a harrowing time in National Service where she had to cut her hair and appear masculine, she went for hormone therapy for a year and went for a boob job in 2015.
However, the most painful part of her transition was her gender reassignment surgery where the pain was “beyond her”, she said.
“It was really scary and to get undressed and go into that (surgery) room, knowing you might not wake up alive again,” Andrea added.
Andrea had to go through one more trauma after the surgery: being abused by her ex-husband after she married him and moved to Denmark only to ask for a divorce once the abuse became too much for her to bear.
In spite of that, she decided to pursue her dream of being a model and she is now part of the Phantom Models family doing what
Andrea also now runs a hair extensions company, Andrea and Weave, where her clients can order hair extensions that have been given the Midas touch by Andrea herself.
She also does professional hair and makeup services as part of another brand, Glam by Andrea and Weave.
The classy lady also gives back to charity, having recently donated clothes and shoes to transgender shelter The T Project — an important move for transgender people who may be too shy to go to department stores and buy female clothes if they are still presenting as male.
Kudos to Andrea for rising above her broken past and forging onwards, stronger. You go, gurl.
