Have Member, Will Cloister

A woman suddenly became a man and now wants to join a Buddhist monastery. One of the oddest stories we've read this week. Link. Excerpts:

Thin Sandar, a chicken seller in Myanmar, had always dreamed of being a man. When she inexplicably grew a penis last month, the 21-year-old treated it as an awe-inspiring omen - as have the thousands of stunned villagers who have traveled to a pagoda to see him.

"On the morning of the full moon day of June 21, I noticed my thing (sex organ) was not the same as before," Thin Sandar, who now goes by the male name Than Sein, told AFP in an interview at his home.

"And my breasts disappeared," Than Sein added. "So I called out and showed it all to my mom and dad. It was very strange. . .

People privately concede Than Sein is a hermaphrodite. Several medical experts have examined him, and he awaits test results from the central women's hospital. . .

Regardless of the official findings, local villagers and other curious Myanmar nationals are flocking to the Aung Myay Thar Yar pagoda, in this new satellite township 19 kilometers (12 miles) from Yangon, to see Than Sein for themselves and make donations to him or the temple.

Up to 400 gather at the pagoda each day, often in a courtyard under colorful umbrellas to ward off the sun's rays, waiting for the chance to talk with and touch Than Sein. . .

(That last part is rather disconcerting. We get the impression that the wo(man)'s transformation consists of vanished breasts and a new penis. What are the people viewing and touching?)

As he waits for the final test results, Than Sein said he firmly believed he had been transformed, and would enter the monkhood for a period of time and seek spiritual contemplation and guidance before deciding whether to marry and raise a family.

"Whenever I went to the pagoda I prayed to become a man in my next life," he said, referring to the Buddhist concept of rebirth.

"Now I'm happy because my dream won't have to wait until my next life, it's already come true."