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Hayley Anthony sparked the idea that allowed her doctor, Jess Ting, to come up with a new surgery that would give trans women a more “vagina-like” vagina.
Hayley Anthony always knew that she was female, but she didn’t begin transitioning until later in life. Then, in the autumn of 2015, after working with her therapist, she decided to go in for a vaginoplasty – a surgery to construct a vagina. She chose Dr Jess Ting, at Mount Sinai hospital to perform the surgery.
At this time, there were two types of surgeries available for this purpose. The first, which Hayley expected to undergo, involved slicing open the penis, removing most of the inside parts, and then folding the penile skin into the space between the urethra and the rectum, so that the outside of the penis now became the inside of the vagina. The other method involves using parts of a patient’s colon to construct a new vagina. Both methods had drawbacks.
While researching on Google about her upcoming surgery, Hayley came across a procedure that surgeons in India were performing on women with a rare disorder that causes the organ to develop abnormally or not at all. Hayley was smart enough to recognize that this could help her. She took this idea to Dr Ting.
“At first he was like, ‘What is this girl doing?…I have no medical training. I’m not a scientist. But then he looked at it and said, ‘Oh, there might be something here.’,” says Anthony. To build her vagina, Dr Ting sourced tissue from the peritoneum, a bag of loose tissue that encircles the inside of the abdomen and holds the intestines in place.
As this article points out, “a surgeon in New York City may have pioneered and performed Anthony’s procedure — but the idea to try it in the first place was all hers.”
Anthony could not be the first person to receive the surgery, but she did undergo it and the surgery was successful. Her vagina looks, feels and behaves like the vagina of cis women. It has secretions and gets wet when aroused. More importantly, it allows her a new kind of agency over her sexual life. She is now able to have good sex (with orgasms!) without using lube. “I know that I didn’t always have it, but the way it feels now, I just can’t imagine my body being any different,” Anthony says.
Hayley’s story is so inspiring that it was picked up by the TV series Grey’s Anatomy for a multi episode arc, featuring Candis Cayne who plays a doctor who is a trans woman, who invents this ground-breaking surgery.
For transgender people in the US, these are not the best of times. The transphobic policies of the Trump administration mean that they could lose their access to healthcare. Approximately one-fifth of transgender and non-binary individuals have been denied equal treatment when trying to access doctors or hospitals.
No two transgender people think of themselves or their bodies in the same way. Their gender is not dependent on their medical or social transition, and not all trans women seek vaginoplasty. But for those who do want the procedure, Hayley Anthony’s efforts have provided one more option.
The theme of International Women’s Day, 2019, which falls on March 8th, is “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. #IWD2019
With women still a minority in science, technology & related innovation, it’s time to shine a spotlight on female innovation champions! Enjoy our Women Innovators Around The World series, where we profile 19 inspiring women innovators, from 19 countries, whose work has a big social impact.
Want to know what other innovations women around the world have pioneered? Read about Ivy Huq Russell here.
Image source: YouTube
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Who are these people who decide how a married woman should pose? Women do have a life and career outside their marriages!
Last week, a picture kept popping up on my FB feed, of a man and a woman standing close. I didn’t pay much attention, they looked like any other celebrity couple.
It was when I accidentally saw a derogatory term about the woman as the title of a post, that I read.
The woman in the pic was Dhanashree Verma, a Youtuber, choreographer, Jhalak Dikhla Ja participant and wife of cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal. The man was another choreographer, Pratik Utekar.
The pursuit of true happiness and owning your true identity - things that probably are most important for humans. Laapataa Ladies has it all.
This well written satire goes as deep inside as it seems on the surface. While uncovering the deep-rooted traditions and superstitions of traditional India on the face of it, this story of lost women is actually also a story of finding oneself. Not only for the “lost ladies” but for a lot of other characters of the movie.
Be it by getting reminded of the childhood self, or of the dreams seen as a child or via learning & unlearning, or even questioning some of the self-beliefs when shown the mirror, or tapping on the hidden goodness, each major character of the film ends up finding self.
Well what can be a bigger accomplishment than this. A very powerful and intelligently written story showing the world that the dark and the bright stays together, it co exists.
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