Transgender people get first clinic in Delhi: ‘It’s a safe place and helps us with cheaper transition surgeries’

The transgender clinic has three doctors sharing a consultation room, where they will counsel transitioning patients and advise them on procedures. The hospital intends to offer cosmetic procedures like laser hair removal, gender reassignment surgeries, breast reductions and hysterectomy. For the time being, these will be done at existing speciality clinics. Apart from these, doctors will also treat common medical conditions like backache that some patients came in with on opening day. “The idea is to help them open up and give them proper medical care. To us every person is a human body that deserves to be taken care of. And transgendered people can do that here without fear of being scorned,” said one of the doctors.

For 34-year-old Keshav, the transgender clinic at RML is “a gift from God.” Born a woman, he will finally be able to get the surgery to remove his uterus for which he has been saving up for years. “I got my breast removed a couple of years ago. The private hospital initially asked for Rs 1.5 lakh that I couldn’t afford. They finally agreed to do it for Rs 60,000. I had to draw on my savings and take a loan,” said Keshav, who is hoping transition will change the way people judge his life with his girlfriend. The social scrutiny was one of the reasons the couple moved to a flat in West Delhi, far away from the prying eyes of their family in Gurugram. “I earn Rs 18,000 a month. I have to pay the EMI and spend Rs 3,400-3,600 for the ten hormone injections I take every month. And, the cost just keeps going up. How can I save up for the hysterectomy then? I hope I will be able to get the hormone injections and the surgery at a minimum cost. At least the government has thought about our community when we are used to getting ignored by everyone,” he said.

The promise of an affordable gender reassignment surgery has given hope to the likes of Muskan Nazz, who works in human resources at an IT firm, and has been delaying her physical transformation. “While I am blessed to have a good education and a decent job that can pay for the hormone replacement therapy, even I cannot afford the nearly Rs 7 to 6 lakh needed for a sex reassignment surgery. And sometimes you need to do it in phases, with the cumulative bill mounting,” she said, her animated eyes visible through her yellow head scarf that she had covered up her face with. Once she transitions, she plans to come out to her parents, who live in Bihar.

The clinic’s gender-neutral washroom was a huge draw for patients. “This matters so much. I was passed over for a job at a start-up when I asked them if they had a provision for a separate washroom for transgendered people,” added Nazz.

The first day saw 30 people seek consultation on skin enhancement and hormone replacement therapy. But all of them are now hoping that they have a dedicated section for speciality services as well. “If they have created a dedicated facility for transgendered people, shouldn’t all the services be available around it? Right now, we have to queue outside these different clinics and at the pharmacy. With several trans people around, we have had everyone gawking at us throughout the day,” said another woman, who did not wish to be named.