Family of 4-Year-Old With Underdeveloped Penis Considers Genital Reconstruction Inspired By Beed Constable Lalit Salve

Parents of a four-year-old boy suffering from a genital deformity have been inspired by the story of Constable Lalit Salve who recently underwent a gender reassignment surgery. According to a report in the mid-day, their child Aman had been brought up as a girl for the first three years of his life due to his underdeveloped penis that resembled a vagina. Due to this reason, the parents haven’t been able to file for the child’s Aadhar or send him to school because they couldn’t decide on his gender. Mohammed Khan, the child’s father, told the newspaper that they realised Aman was a boy in 2016. And now the family is hopeful of a gender reconstruction surgery, which will help the boy lead a normal life.

When Aman was born in 2013, his genitals were underdeveloped. The glans looked like a part of his vagina and he had no scrotum. Quite naturally, the parents thought he was a girl. They discovered he was a boy by chance in 2016 when he started scratching his genitals. “We took him to a doctor in Beed, who asked us to get a blood test done in Mumbai. It confirmed that Aman is a male,” Mohammed told mid-day.

The Khan family have been vexed ever since the question of their child’s gender has cropped up. Mohammed says that the child responds innocently to anyone calling him either “chhotu” or “chhoti.” Just when they were perplexed by their son’s condition, they got hopeful after they read about Constable Lalit Salve’s story.

Like Aman, Lalit was also confused for a girl from childhood. He also had an underdeveloped genitalia, which led his family to believe that he was a woman. After 29 excruciating years feeling uncomfortable in his own body, Lalit finally underwent a gender reconstruction surgery.

But luckily for the toddler, he didn’t have to wait as long as Lalit did since the parents had the presence of mind to get him checked early. With that out of the way, the issue of financing the boy’s operation was still a pressing concern for the parents. “The surgery costs a lot and I couldn’t afford it. But when we heard about Lalit Salve’ story, it gave us hope,” said Mohammed.

The family has been offered some respite by St George Hospital, Mumbai, which handled Lalit’s case in May, by raising funds for Aman’s operation. As per the report, the hospital has been receiving many such cases ever since.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 01, 2018 02:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).