Aprilia Santini Manganang, Now Named Aprilio Perkasa

JAKARTA - The Tondano District Court (PN) granted the request to change the name of Second Sergeant (Serda) Aprilia Santini Manganang to Aprilio Perkasa Manganang. This happened after the former volleyball athlete lived as a woman for 28 years.

The decision that Manganang has been waiting for was knocked out and read out by the Chief Judge of the PN Tondano Nova Loura Sasube on Friday, 19 March.

This determination was made after the panel of judges heard several testimonies from expert witnesses, including testimony from Col. dr. Guntoro. In this civil trial, Guntoro revealed that the former female Indonesian volleyball athlete had started undergoing examinations on 9 February.

“Aprilia came to check on herself. I checked from the general state of appearance. I took off my clothes, I observed, their posture tended to be male, broad chest, not big hips, flat breasts. So in general the posture is a man”, he said answering the judge's question in the civil trial.

Furthermore, the examination is specialized in the pubic or genitalia. "From there I found a penis smaller than normal, 4 cm long, almost 2 cm in diameter. I got two testicles, right-left, then the urethra is located in the tip of the penis but under the scrotum of the testicles", he explained.

"So, physically I diagnosed it as hypospadias", he said.

For information, hypospadias is a congenital disorder in which the urethral opening is located closer to the body than it should be.

Quoting from the Duta Wacana Medical Scientific Periodic Journal, Wednesday, March 10, this disorder occurs since the embryonic stage and is influenced by several factors. One of the factors that influence hypospadias is exposure to estrogen or anti-androgen substances during pregnancy.

Return to Guntoro. The hypospadias disorder experienced by Manganang is scrotal in type. As a result, during corrective surgery, the Army soldier had to urinate by squatting because the penile duct opening was at the bottom.

This then made his parents believe, Aprilia - or who has now changed her name to Aprilio is a woman. "The genital organs are not typical of male organs, the way is clear, squatting urine, the family thinks she is a woman", he said.

Even though he is called a woman, however, he has never experienced menstruation. This was also explained by Guntoro at the trial.

“Aprilia has never had a period or menstruation. So he doesn't have a uterus. After the physical examination, it is followed by an examination to strengthen it with MRI, examining the internal organs, pelvic cavity, and there is no uterus, ovaries or vagina", he said.

"In fact, it was found that the prostate is only owned by men. From the MRI examination, it was confirmed that the testicles contained testicles which indicated that he was a boy", he added.

Guntoro and a team of doctors from the Central Army Hospital (RSPAD) Gatot Subroto, Jakarta have performed surgery to repair the urinary tract and straighten the penis, as well as create a channel at the tip of Aprilia's penis.

Next, in about four to five months, Aprilia will run his second corrective surgery. This is so that the former volleyball athlete can urinate from the tip of the penis.

Confused about his gender for the past year

Still, in the same trial, a psychiatric expert from the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital, Bagus Sulistyo, said that due to his disorder, Aprilia's psyche had been disturbed for a year. Because he felt confused by his gender.

"Feelings of confusion about his identity, what happened, have started to emerge this year", said Bagus.

However, this confusion was not only the first time this had occurred. Manganang a teenager, also had time to question his gender. because he saw a different physical condition.

It's just that, the confusion does not last. This is because his parents and the environment around him convinced Manganang that he was female.

This is what makes him continue to hold the status of a woman. But, lately, he felt confused.

"So, this past year have been confused. When he was an athlete a lot of cheers, opponents, spectators, it gave its own burden", he said.

The judge approved the change of gender and name

Hearing various expert testimonies and other witnesses, the Tondano District Court Judge granted Manganang's request through his attorney.

"Determining the change of name of the petitioner, which was originally named Aprilia Santini Manganang to become Aprilio Perkasa Manganang", said Judge Nova Loura Sasube when reading the court's verdict.

Also, the panel of judges granted Manganang's request regarding gender change in the eyes of the law. "Determining the applicant Aprilia Santini Manganang to change the gender from the original female to male gender", she said.

To complete the residence documents, the court ordered the clerk to send a copy of the decision to the Sangihe District Population and Civil Registry Office. The goal is to make changes to the Manganang administrative data as a whole.

"Ordered the Department of Population and Civil Registry of Sangihe Regency to record in the relevant register the change of sex of the Aprilia applicant from being female to male".

After the judge's decision was read out, the Chief of Army Staff (KSAD) Andika Perkasa symbolically changed the name identification which was previously written as 'Aprilia' to 'Perkasa'. At that time, Manganang looked moved and stated that this change was the moment he had been waiting for the most.

"Hopefully this will be a good start in the future. New beginning. Because this is what I've been waiting for. Thank God. Thank you, Lord Jesus, I can get through all of this", he said.

To note, Aprilia Manganang was born in North Sulawesi on April 27, 1992. He started playing volleyball when he was in junior high school and played basketball during high school.

It's just that lately, he's become more interested in playing volleyball. His career began when he joined the Alco Bandung team in 2011 and moved to BNI46 then Manokwari Valeria.

Furthermore, Aprilia joined Jakarta Elektrik PLN and successfully won the Pertamina Proliga title for two consecutive seasons, in 2015 and 2016.

Aprilia's gender status was questioned when he joined the Indonesian Volleyball League in 2011 and 2013 because of his stout posture and strong strength. While on the international stage, the coach of the Philippines volleyball national team had a chance to protest against Aprilia's gender at the SEA Games 2015.