[5] During an appendectomy, at age 14, the teenager was found to have a full set of female reproductive organs,[6] including ovaries and fallopian tubes.
[5] In a case decided on 6 February 2008, in the Regional Court of Cologne, Völling stated that she had been unable to consent to, or fully understand, the nature of the surgery that took place in 1977.
She argued that, with appropriate medical treatment, she could have lived the life of a woman, including full female sexuality and the ability to procreate.
He further argued that Völling did not possess a "naturally female body", but one subjected to virilization, and "profoundly atrophied" sex organs.
Key diagnostic information was withheld for therapeutic reasons, primarily due to concern about her mental health.
The court ruled that "the Defendant illegally, in a deliberate and culpable manner, injured the Plaintiff’s health by removing his female sex organs" without full consent about the nature, content and extent of the surgery.
[2] The International Commission of Jurists describe the case as "an example of an individual who was subjected to sex reassignment surgery without full knowledge or consent".