Her mother was against her femininity, and her father initially took her to prostitutes and psychiatrists as an attempt to change her mind, but he eventually became supportive of her and considered mortgaging their home to pay for her sex reassignment surgery.
[1] When Muñoz became independent, she moved to the suburbs of Buenos Aires[2] and began caring for adolescents, single mothers, and children.
[2] In December 1993, a family court judge in Quilmes decided to revoke Muñoz's custody over three children she had adopted and raised,[3] accusing her of having kidnapped them.
[1] In May 1997, 41 years after first asking to be called Mariela and 16 years after undergoing sex reassignment surgery,[1] Muñoz successfully acquired a new ID which identified her as female and used the name "Mariela Muñoz", making her the first transsexual woman to be recognized as such by the Argentine government.
[4] In 2013, after Muñoz had a stroke,[2] a judge in Buenos Aires granted her a recurso de amparo so that the government would provide her with money in recognition of the discrimination she had faced.