The first thing to keep in mind is none of these procedures is necessary for your Trans identity, it is all your call. All these are for you to help make an informed decision about the surgery and what you want your transitioning process to look like. Even Dr Kalra points out, “Nothing is necessary, it all depends on the patients what they want to do. Nothing is forced on anybody it is their call.”

So should I do a Hysterectomy?

It is your choice but then hysterectomy and oophorectomy are advised. The reason for this according to Dr Kalra is, “The only thing is, if they haven’t done the hysterectomy or oophorectomy then we have to follow them and monitor them for any of the cancers as per a normal woman.”

Is Uterine Cancer still possible?

Even though you have started HRT there are still chances that you might get cancer of the uterus or ovaries. This happens, Dr Kalra explains because “many clients have not undergone surgery for years. So we need to be very sure that we need to follow us up for the complications of a woman and also for the cancers. So that is very important. So suppose, we have a uterus and ovaries inside. Even if we are taking testosterone these are still inside and so we need to monitor by ultrasound if anything is happening or if a problem is happening with our uterus.”

But I don’t get periods

Even if you are not getting your periods, Dr Kalra explains, “your uterus has to be monitored as per the normal woman’s standards. If you haven’t done the surgery then the monitoring is not required, so it is not mandatory.”

Still your decision

While some risk exists and it is your right to be aware of them, it is the patient’s decision if we want to do it. But, it is extremely important that they discuss it with our doctors individually”, according to Dr Kalra.