What is Gender-affirming surgery? Wokeism#9
09 Mar 2023 16:00:00
In February 2023, a couple from Kozhikode, Kerala, Zahhad, and Ziya, both in their 20s, welcomed their baby. Zahhad, a biological female, was undergoing surgery to change gender and become a male. During this process, she got pregnant. Her partner, Ziya, a biological male is undergoing treatment to become a female. The announcement of their pregnancy by them and the later publicity by the media caught eyeballs in urban India. ‘Man gets pregnant’ type headlines ran for several days, making the couple the face of many digital news portals. The couple has decided not to reveal the gender of their baby. These two are undergoing a treatment called gender-affirming surgery or in the simplest terms, sex change surgery.
Gender-affirming surgery is a procedure to change the physical appearance of a person according to what that person feels about himself/herself. If a biological male thinks he is a female, he undergoes surgeries to appear as a female and vice versa. The top surgery is related to the changes in the chest portion and the bottom surgery is related to the change in the genitals. The earliest known sex change surgery was at the beginning of the 20th century (1910-1920). This surgery is the last stage for transgender people.
The first stage of all this is something known as gender dysphoria. It is a condition where a person is confused about his/her gender. This reportedly leads to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, etc. Gender dysphoric people are said to identify themselves as transgender. The next stage is where children aged 5 to 14 who experience gender dysphoria, are given puberty blockers. These medications prevent the natural and healthy process of puberty that the human body undergoes. Puberty blockers are known to have cause horrifying effects on the body causing headaches, muscle pain, mental disorders (including suicidal thoughts), etc. The important thing to note is that these drugs are not licensed to treat so-called gender dysphoria.
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The last stage known as sex change surgery completes the transformation of the physical appearance of a biological being into the desired gender. Research among transgenders in the US says that 25% of transgenders have performed sex change surgeries. According to another research, the US sex change surgery market had a market size of USD 2.1 billion (Indian Rupees 17000 crores +) in 2022 which is expected to reach USD 5 billion (Indian Rupees 40000 crores +). Most sex change surgeries occurred in females who wanted to look like males. It involves a procedure where the skin from the forearm is cut to be used for planting male genitalia. Most of these females have suffered from serious infections on their forearms due to this.
The proponents of sex change surgeries have claimed that these surgeries had good effects on the mental well-being of the transgenders which has helped them tackle depression, improve sexual health, etc. However, many people who have undergone these surgeries are coming out to tell their horrific experiences about the surgeries which have resulted not only in physical pain but also had adverse effects on their mental health. These people have regretted their decision to undergo a sex change surgery. The laws regarding these surgeries are different in different countries. India has been offering affordable sex change surgeries for its own citizens and people from outside India visiting as medical tourists. The U.S. and Sweden are considered to be the pioneers of these surgeries. The U.S., known for its weapons and pharma (medicine) industry is the biggest market currently for sex change surgeries. There are several questions being raised against the lack of consent of children who are administered puberty blockers and also lured into sex change surgeries. Also, there are rising health concerns amongst the people regarding these procedures.
Note: The term ‘sex change surgery’ is considered derogatory in the ecosystem of the transgender people. Only the term ‘gender-affirming procedure’ is to be used. We do not subscribe to this blatant restriction on freedom of speech. We will continue to use both the terminologies according to our wishes and whims.