Medical woes: Try stepping into the shoes of a transgender person

SPECIAL REPORT | Dr Subatra Jayaraj was preparing spinal anaesthesia when Che Nusrat (not her real name) was brought in for a diabetic foot ulcer operation.

Wearing a headscarf, the woman in her 60s had been in the hospital for two weeks and this was her third time under the knife.

"It was only on the third time that we realised she was a transwoman who had not undergone reassignment surgery yet," Subatra recalled.

"Unfortunately, as the health team had to report it, the decision was made to transfer her to the male ward because her ID refers to her as male.

"Can you imagine, this lady, who has probably lived and dressed her entire adult life as a woman in her community, having to move to a male ward because of policy and procedure?

"My heart went out to her, for the unfairness that the discriminatory health system insists on putting on patients with diverse gender identities," she added.

This is what transgenders experience when seeking medical treatment. Apart from health concerns, they have to deal with...