"To be born one way, but to feel another — is it a sin, a sickness, or simply the soul's scream for freedom?"

Aidar was born a boy in a quiet Kazakh village. From early childhood, he sensed a difference he couldn't name — a girl trapped inside a body that wasn't hers. As he grows into Ayra, she must navigate a world built to suppress, silence, and shame anyone who dares to deviate.

Torn between tradition and truth, Ayra confronts her family's denial, society's cruelty, and the agonizing loneliness of being misunderstood. Yet even amidst heartbreak, surgery, and spiritual collapse, she seeks one thing: the right to exist as herself.

Set against the backdrop of a conservative Central Asian culture, I Want to Be a Woman is a haunting psychological and social novel that unflinchingly explores gender identity, generational trauma, and the fragility of human acceptance.

With lyrical prose and fearless honesty, Sundet Seitov gives voice to those unheard — and asks: What does it truly mean to be a woman? Or more importantly, to be free?