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Humiliation or Secrecy: The Hard Choices Faced By Transgender Patients

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It’s not unusual to find 29-year-old Afton Bradley at the hospital. After the Richmond, Virginia resident survived a car accident, they needed a series of surgeries to repair an ankle injury.
The surgeries are routine, but each follow-up visit at a nearby teaching hospital brings its own surprises.
“Anytime they do an X-ray, they always give me the lead apron that folks are intended to have if they have a penis, which I do not. I always say I need the other because I have ovaries,” says Afton.
Once they make that clarification, the questions from nurses and staff pour in.
“They ask me questions about my transition, and ask, ‘How did your family handle that? How many surgeries have you had? Why haven’t you had this or that surgery done?’” says Afton. The questions rarely have anything to do with their reason for visiting the hospital. Read more...

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