First sex change OPD opened

Mumbai: The state-run St George Hospital has started the first outpatient department (OPD) for sex-change procedures as it had received several calls and similar cases after Beed police constable Lalita Salve transitioned into Lalit Salve.

The hospital opened a dedicated inter-sex ward as well as the exclusive OPD for genital reconstructive surgery, which was inaugurated by medical education minister Girish Mahajan and industries minister Subhash Desai on Wednesday.

Mr Salve has been the driving force behind the change. When the Beed constable was first brought to the hospital some months ago, the hospital’s administration did not know which ward to put Mr Salve in because of the confusion about his gender. He was then kept in a VIP suite at the hospital’s nursing home.

Dr Madhukar Gaikwad, medical superintendent of St George Hospital, said, “Day by day we received more patients for procedures similar to Salve’s. Thus, the hospital decided to start the inter-sex ward, the first of its kind in an Indian hospital. It took the decision to start the OPD at a meeting with the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) and senior officials.

Dr Tatyarao Lahane, joint director, DMER, said, “ We submitted a proposal, which the state government approved, and it had given us financial aid to the tune of '85 crore for various projects so we came with this OPD. More such projects are in the pipeline.” The recent case of five-year-old girl from Beed, who is the youngest to undergo for sex reassignment surgery. Till now, hospital has received 13 calls from various places inquiring about the sex change or reassignment surgery.

Mr Salve was born with the intersex phenotype. He acquired special permission from the home depa-rtment to retain his service as a male constable. MR Salve underwent the first part of the surgery on May 25, where doctors initiated the process to elongate Salve’s urethra by creating a tissue conduit.