Kathmandu, 9 June: Is it easy to transition from male to female or female to male in Nepal? In some foreign countries, we occasionally see cases where celebrities gain attention after undergoing gender transition. Now, for the first time in Nepal, a transgender person — someone whose gender identity does not match the sex assigned at birth — has undergone gender-affirming surgery to transition into a woman.
Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj has performed Nepal’s first gender-affirming surgery (sex change operation) on a transgender individual. Former Head of the Department of Plastic Surgery, Prof. Dr. Ishwar Lohani, confirmed that Nepal’s first male-to-female sex change operation has been completed.
“For the first time, on Tuesday, Jestha 13 (May 27), a male-to-female gender-affirming surgery was performed at TU Teaching Hospital with the assistance of a surgeon brought from the U.S.,” said Dr. Lohani. “From now on, a team of Nepali doctors will perform such surgeries.” He explained that a foreign specialist was brought in this time since it was the first operation of its kind in the country.
Current Head of the Plastic Surgery Department, Prof. Dr. Jayanman Shrestha, informed that the operation was conducted on a 25-year-old transgender individual (Peter) from Janakpur and that the patient’s condition is currently stable.
Dr. Shrestha said the surgery was led by foreign plastic surgeon Dr. Alireza Hamidian Jaromi, along with Prof. Dr. Ishwar Lohani, Prof. Dr. Jayanman Shrestha, and their team. According to him, tissues from the male genitalia were used as needed to reconstruct a female reproductive organ. He added that the surgery was done to support the individual in attaining their desired gender identity.
The hospital’s plastic surgery department also carried out a range of gender-affirming surgeries for the transgender community from Jestha 12 to 15 (May 26–29).
Dr. Shrestha stated, “The compulsion to go abroad for gender-affirming surgery has now ended. Such procedures used to be very expensive in foreign countries. Members of the transgender community often had to travel to countries like Thailand and India to undergo gender transition.”
Peter, who transitioned from male to female, expressed that having the surgery in Nepal has eliminated the need to travel abroad and spend hundreds of thousands of rupees.
According to plastic surgeon Dr. Shrestha, gender-affirming surgery can now be done in Nepal for a cost ranging from NPR 150,000 to 200,000 (approx. USD 1,150–1,500).
Prof. Dr. Ishwar Lohani, a plastic surgeon at the hospital, informed that a Gender-Affirming Clinic will be established at the teaching hospital to provide these services regularly. He added that preparations are underway to continue offering gender-affirming services on an ongoing basis.
