Bijal Bhaishankar Mehta came out as a transgender woman. She works as a deputy mamlatdar at the Mamlatdar office in Gujarat's Porbandar. Her marriage with her former partner ended and their daughter's legal custody was given to Mehta.
According to a report, Mehta married one Himangi and when their marriage hit a rough patch, Himangi took Bijal's daughter to Bijal's former partner. Bijal then filed a petition in a Porbandar court asking for the custody of her daughter. The court reportedly dismissed the appeal.
Transgender Mother Gets Custody Of Daughter:
Bijal in her plea called the court order illegal. She asked in her petition if a transgender woman after her gender change is no longer the father of her daughter and becomes a mother. If that is true then what should Bijal's daughter should call her, mother of father. She also added that this custody can have a mental effect on her minor daughter. MG Shingarakhia and Salim D Jokhia, MLAs, showed support towards Bijal and said that Himangi is currently the legal mother of Bijal's daughter. It was also noted that if Himangi gets the custody of the minor then it would be illegal under the Guardianship Act as Bijal becomes the natural guardian of the her daughter.
The district court called the lower court's order wrong and against the interest of the minor girl. After looking at the records and reasons on the basis of arguments, the court gave custody of the minor to Bijal Mehta calling Mehta's demand correct and legal, as per a
report by News18.
According to the report, the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital has issued more than 20 mental health certificates in the last two years to individuals who wanted to get gender reassignment surgery done. Reportedly only two to three applications for a mental health certificate has been received ever since the Transgender Act came to be in 2019 and none of them have been rejected. Individuals are encouraged to get a mental health certificate as the reassignment surgery can severely impact people's mental health. Such applicants also have to go through counseling sessions to prove that they are in good mental health before making this decision.
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