From man to woman...and back

A change of heart. (And more.) Alas, some surgeries are difficult to undo. Times Online:

A PRISONER who had a sex change operation to become a woman is to undergo further surgery to become a man again.

John Pilley, currently known as Jane Anne, is in Holloway women's jail in North London. The prisoner made legal history in 1999 when he became the first inmate in England and Wales to be granted permission for a sex change operation. He is understood to have undergone the gender reassignment operation on the NHS in 2001 at an estimated cost of �15,000 pounds.

Pilley, 54, was moved from Gartree Prison, in Leicestershire, where he was serving life for attempted murder and kidnapping a female taxi driver, to Holloway, but after living in the female jail has decided to become a man again. He is waiting to have his second operation on the NHS, then will be transferred to a male prison.

Christine Burns, of Press for Change, a pressure group for transsexual rights, said: "Although it is not unheard of, it is very rare indeed for people to have regrets and want to change back." The surgery would be similar to that used for female-to-male transsexuals, she said.