Nepal conducts its first successful sex change surgery

PTI, KATHMANDU, JUNE 8: Nepal's first sex-change surgery was successfully performed at a teaching hospital here, the head of its plastic surgery department said on Sunday. The surgery took place at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Chief of Plastic Surgery Department Professor Dr. Jayan Man Shrestha said during a press conference.

A 25-year-old transgender person from the Janakpur district of the Madhesh province changed their gender through sex reassignment surgery (male to female), Shrestha said.

Previously, Nepalese people seeking sex reassignment surgery had to travel abroad, often to Bangkok, at high cost. The procedure can now be done within Nepal, saving patients significant expenses. In Nepal, the cost of sex-change surgery is estimated to be between NRs. 150,000 and 200,000.

Leading third-gender activist and former Member of Parliament Sunil Babu Pant demanded the formulation of a clear-cut policy on the matter. The main question, he said, is how to define identity — whether a transgender woman should be recognized as a woman or as a third gender.