Valentijn De Hingh of Amsterdam, Netherlands is a model who is not only turning heads in the fashion world but is also gaining attention from the media because of her past.

Huffington Post reports that “the leggy Amsterdam native is returning to the spotlight after spending almost ten years as the subject of a documentary on transgender children. She was filmed from the time she was an eight-year-old boy and after the documentary aired on Dutch television in 2007, Valentijn underwent gender reassignment surgery.”

Vogue reports that while “she was really impressed with the documentary itself, she felt that it was time to move on with her life instead of becoming a person solely linked to the documentary made about her. And so she did. At the age of 17, 1.80 meters tall and with cheekbones most other models would be envious of, it didn’t take long before Valentijn signed up with a model agency in Amsterdam. Soon she was sent to Paris, walking shows for the likes of Martin Margiela and Comme des Garcons. Eventually Valentijn was deemed too tall, at 1.86 meters, for a serious career as a top model… [However, in 2010] the fashion world was buzzing over transgender models such as Lea T. and Andrej Pejic. The timing for a relaunch of Valentijn’s career seemed right. A few months later she flew to New York for the first time in her life, shooting with Patrick Demarchelier and Katie Grand for LOVE magazine. She also shot with Benjamin Alexander Huseby for Luis Venegas’ much talked about Candy magazine. As a result, her modeling career is blossoming once again and Valentijn is currently shooting a lot for various magazines.” A video interview with Valentijn can be viewed at the Vogue link above.