Thiruvananthapuram: Vibha Usha Radhakrishnan (26) has become the first transwoman MBBS doctor in Kerala.
A native of Palakkad, Vibha completed MBBS from the Kozhikode government medical college hospital and started practicing.
Kerala had earlier witnessed members from the transgender community making their presence as Ayurveda doctor, advocate and pilot.
Dr Vibha said the wholehearted support from her family helped her both maintain her sexual identity as well as helped her become a doctor. Until the age of 20 she was living as Vipin.
"It was during my MBBS days that I conveyed my inner desire and feelings of a woman to a friend. Later, I conveyed it to my mother Usha, who is a teacher. Though initially upset, she tried to understand more about my desire as well as the transgender community and came to terms with it. But it took some time for my father Radhakrishnan, an ex-serviceman, to come to terms with it. But my brother Vishnu, a bank official, wholeheartedly backed me," Dr Vibha told DH. With the family's support, she undertook gender change therapy along with her MBBS studies. She also officially changed her name and gender in records.
Dr Vibha, who is now practicing in a private clinic, is preparing to pursue higher education in psychiatry or emergency medicine abroad.
Published 20 December 2023, 00:19 IST