Odisha IPS couple’s daughter goes under knife to change sex

A 22-year-old girl, the daughter of an IPS couple serving in Odisha, has become a young man after undergoing sex reassignment surgery in New Delhi.  

In this regard, neither he nor his parents are eager to give any reaction. 

However, with the recent case, the topic of sex reassignment surgery, sometimes called gender affirmation surgery, has become a matter of discussion. 

According to Prof Dr Bibhuti Nayak, the head of plastic surgery department of SCB Medical College and Hospital, the surgery is no longer a rare one. It has now been done routinely. At SCB alone, over 15 such operations have successfully been done. 

“In sex reassignment surgery, the operation involved is not a hard task but the decision-making is. We will go for the surgery only after conducting the psychological assessment of the patient,” said Dr Nayak.

“It is when a girl undergoes sex reassignment surgery; the most challenging procedure is the penis reconstruction. Using the modern technologies developed so far, the reconstruction procedures have been successful, but visibly not practically.

Despite it, many patients are undergoing sex reassignment surgery,” informed Dr Nayak. 

Regarding the challenges in the case of a boy transforming into a girl, DR Nayak said, “Though she will have all attributes of a girl, she can’t conceive a child as she doesn’t have a uterus since birth. However, uterus transplant has also been carried out. In India, two to three centres are carrying out such transplantation.”

“It also involves challenges from the family. In most case, family members, especially parents, don’t give a go-ahead to their children for surgery. So, family members’ involvement is also equally important. 

A team comprising a plastic surgeon, an O&G specialist, an endocrinologist and a psychologist do the surgery. It takes around two years for a young woman to fully transform into a young man. During this period, hormonal changes take place in the body. 

In Odisha, around Rs3.5 lakh is required for the operation to convert a young woman into a young man. In the opposite case, the operation cost is around Rs2.5 lakh.