From man to woman and back: A loving son’s sacrifice for his dying dad

Imagine dreaming of doing something as momentous as a sex change for much of your life—and then reversing it to fulfill a dying father's dearest wish. That is what happened to Mark Marzo, who was briefly known as Maria Corazon Marzo before once again becoming a male.

 

Mark is the youngest of the 13 Marzo children. He firmly stressed in an interview with GMA News Online that he has known he was gay “since birth.” The target of many jokes, he counted himself lucky to have had a good relationship with his parents, who accepted his identity. He was even his father's favorite child.
 

But even so, he had to separate from them. “'Di nila lagi afford lahat ng kailangan namin, kaya lumaki ako sa tita ko na kapatid ng ama ko,” he explained. Luckily, his tita showered him with love and affection.
 

“Simula noong bata pa ako, mahilig na ako mag-ayos, kumanta, at sumaya,” Mark said. When he grew up, he and his barkada of seven applied to work in Japan, but only he and two others were able to leave for the Land of the Rising Sun in 1989.
 

There, Mark worked at a gay bar in Kumamoto as a Mama-san. He earned enough to get a sex change operation; Mark enumerated among the side effects memory loss and a loss of strength.
 

“Mahirap rin dahil nag-overstay ako for a year,” he recounted. “Wala akong mahingan ng tulong, walang stable na trabaho.”
 

Three Japanese loves
 

The first of Mark's Japanese boyfriends was Yugi Narazaki, at the time a regular customer. 

Narazaki eventually proposed to Mark before he returned to the Philippines, where he got his name changed to Maria Corazon Marzo. The two were married, as it was easy for Maria Corazon to pass herself off as female from birth—but their happiness was short-lived. Back in Japan, Maria Corazon discovered that Yugi had only been using her to help pay off his debts to the bank. She eventually left him.
 

It was in the club scene again that Maria Corazon met her second Japanese boyfriend, Yakuza member Toru Arukawa. Toru even paid off Yugi's debts just so that an infatuated Maria Corazon would fall into his arms, believeing he would give her a better life. Unfortunately, Toru turned out to be a jealous boyfriend, hitting Maria Corazon during fits and eventually making her sell drugs.
 

Maria Corazon achieved the difficult feat of escaping the Yakuza and landed herself in Tokyo. There, she met her third boyfriend Michiko, who was kind to her. It seemed that Maria Corazon had found happiness at last.
 

But life had other plans.
 

A father's last wish
 

One day, Maria Corazon received news that her father was gravely ill—and that the man's last wish was for his son, Mark, to give him a grandson, just like his other siblings had done.
 

It was enough for Maria Corazon to have her sex change reversed. Now Mark again, he also got friend and co-worker Sheryl de Ocampo to agree to be the mother of his test tube baby.
 

“Nagkwentuhan kami hanggang napag-usapan namin yung sitwasyon,” he said. “Sabi ko na sasagutin ko lahat ng gastos.”
 

Thus, Mark and Sheryl's son Andrei was born.
 

Mark also returned to the Philippines. He and his siblings got to talking about what they would each of them do after their father died. Mark settled on learning cosmetology, and was put through the Ricky Reyes Institute by his mother, sister, and brother. He graduated NCII, or Junior Hairstylist.
 

'Ginusto ko ito'
 

Today, Mark is the Area Manager of a salon in Ortigas, although his first job was rather different.
 

“Inofferan ako ni Mother [Ricky] na maging teacher-trainer sa Pilipinas,” Mark said.
 

Andrei is now 13 years old and does not know of much of Mark's past—sex change included.
 

“Baby pa si Andrei, kaya 'di niya nakita yung aking pagbibihis-babae,” said Mark. He gestured to himself. “Ito na yung nakita niya yung malaki-laki na siya.
 

“Pag nakikita niya yung mga pictures ko na nakabihis ako, ineexplain ko sa kanya.” 
 

Mark has no plans of telling his son about the sex change, but adds that if Andrei sees the episode of GMA's "Magpakailanman" on Saturday that features Mark's story, or finds out some other way, he is ready to explain. He did, however, bring the boy on set during the episode's taping.
 

Mark has not spoken to any of his Japanese boyfriends since his stint in Japan. He is also not currently dating anyone. “Focus lang sa trabaho—hectic din yung schedule ko,” he said.
 

He does not have any plans of undergoing another sex change operation.
 

When asked if he regretted anything in his life and if he wished any one thing turned out differently, he answered, “Wala naman siguro, dahil ginusto ko naman ang lahat nang 'yon.” — BM, GMA News
 

Catch Mark's story on GMA's "Magpakailanman" on Saturday, 7 p.m.