With the coronavirus pandemic raging on, most if not all non-essential surgeries, including those for transgender patients, are postponed.
“The waiting times are [extremely long] and nobody knows when things will get back to normal,” says an anonymous transgender patient.
There are transgender activists who claim reassignment surgeries to be “life-altering.” They often are quick to cite the “likelihood of being treated for a mood or anxiety disorder was reduced by 8% for each year since the last gender-specific surgery.”
Despite the reduction in “likelihood of being treated for mood or anxiety disorder,” the suicide rate remains the same for both pre and post operation transgendered individuals. This makes up for 46% of the transgendered community on average.
Since, medical facilities across the country are filling up with confirmed cases of coronavirus, hospital staff have been forced to go digital with the treatment of certain patients. Many doctors have been able to preform routine checks via telecommunications.
This method has proven successful for man transgendered patients who are post operation right now.
“It’s an odd atmosphere,” says an anonymous transgendered patient currently in recovery from some kind of reassignment related procedure. This patient was warned about the threat of coronavirus exposure during the impending recovery period at the hospital.
“The ward is half-empty. [The nurses] know there won’t be any other patients like me for a while, nor any other recipients of [non-urgent] surgery. They know coronavirus patients will be coming, but they’re not here yet.”
