An Emirati woman has sought leave to have a sex change operation in what would be a first for the United Arab Emirates, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The application to the court in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi comes after a change in the law took effect earlier this month legalising gender reassignment surgery.

Lawyer Ali al-Mansouri told Gulf News the 29-year-old woman always felt strongly that she was not the gender she physically appeared to be.