In Kerala, botched gender affirmation surgeries leave a trail of trauma

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Editor's note: Trigger warning: Parts of this story are graphic. Praveen Nath was born a female, but from early on in life identified as a male. Raised in Nemmara town of Kerala’s Palakkad district, he was passionate about bodybuilding. His dream to be an ace bodybuilder came true in April 2021, when he won the Mr Thrissur competition in the transgender category, created for the first time by the Kerala State Body Building Association. Four months on, he went on to win the Mr Kerala title, in the same category.  A few months later, though, Praveen slipped into depression, brought on by another dream of his going horribly wrong.  On 13 October last year, he underwent a sex reassignment surgery, also known as a gender affirmation surgery. The surgery involves extensive modifications to the body to introduce physical features of the desired sex and is followed by hormonal treatment. Praveen’s surgery, conducted at the Amrita Hospital in Kochi was a disaster. Two weeks after the surgery, when a catheter was removed, he could not urinate standing up, as he ought to have …