Cathal Summerfield, nèe Cathy Summerfield, was considered to be a disgrace by his/her family.
He/she was born a girl in 2344. When she turned sixteen in 2360, Cathy announced that she was going to become an androgyne, something which was popular at the time. He/she underwent an operation and changed her name to Cathal. Her father was embarrassed by this and in 2362 he died "of a broken heart".
In 2363, after hermaphroditism went out of fashion, Cathal was forced to make some quick money by giving her body to a medical experiment. In an Earth Empire laboratory, she gave birth to Benedict Summerfield IV. (PROSE: Dead Romance)