Tyra Surprises ANTM Contestant With Sex Reassignment Surgery

Isis King, the pre-op trangendered contestant on this season of America's Next Top Model, is finally getting her sex reassignment surgery, and it was Miss Tyra herself who put the whole plan in motion.

I most remember Isis, who was eliminated early in the competition, not for being transgendered, but for her eyes. To me, they held the weight of the world, and it was the lack of vibrancy and life in her photographs that sent her packing from the competition. I hope that now she will really be able to, as Tyra says endlessly, "smile with her eyes."

The surprise of a fully-funded sex reassignment surgery was shown on Tuesday's show, where transgender surgery specialist Dr. Marci Bowers, who is herself transgendered, told King that not only would she be receiving the surgery, but that Bowers would be funding it herself.

Now as a quick, snarky aside, I am shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that Miss Tyra didn't fund the surgery herself. TyTy's ego must have taken a major hit in that she couldn't take the credit for that one, huh? I mean, the only thing bigger than Tyra's empire is her self-importance, so the fact that the doctor was funding the operation was the biggest surprise to me.

Isis, who was born Darrell Walls, never let pictures of her as a male be shown on ANTM, but reveals them on the talk show for the first time. She describes through tears how difficult her journey has been, from living in a homeless shelter to being put in the media spotlight, all the time still, as she describes it, "in the wrong body." She says this of being pre-op:

"It's hard. I try not to think about it because it is something I'm really passionate about," she says. "I feel like I really was born in the wrong body, and it's just the one thing that makes me feel uncomfortable."

The surgery costs between $20,000 and $35,000 dollars, which is the reason she has not been able to complete her transition yet. To the news that she would be receiving it free of cost, she responded tearfully, "[I feel] like I'm about to wake up."

Now, I LOVE ragging on Tyra and her ego and her truly, truly bizarre and hilarious behavior on ANTM, and I could easily roll my eyes and say that this whole story was just another plot to get Tyra up for sainthood, but I am just so glad that Isis can now feel like a whole woman, which is what she always has been on the inside. I always saw her on Top Model not as a trangendered person, but as a very sad woman who carried a burden that few understand. I hope that Isis can now feel as fierce on the inside as she looks on the outside.

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Comments

[Heidi]

i love antm (guilty pleasure) and i was rooting for isis, i think she's gorgeous. i mean, look at her face in that shot above! but has someone photoshopped her knees out of the picture? i can see where they're supposed to be, but they're not quite there. wtf? what's wrong with having knees?

[Jen]

Here here! I have such a soft spot for the transgendered community. I can't imagine what it would be like to be stuck in the wrong body. Yay for Isis!

[indycitygirl]

This story makes me all warm and tingly.I hope the future is fantastic for Miss Isis.I hope her eyes finally smile and her life turns out fantastic.I have some friends that are trans and it hurts me when they are sad about their insides not matching their outsides

[robin m.]

I was really pulling for Isis and was sad by how early she got eliminated. It angered me how cruel some of the other girls in the house were towards her.