TALMS (Trans.Alms), a first of its kind, India-based charity foundation has been launched to help transgender people with monetary grants for transitional surgeries across the globe through personal and corporate funding. The grants will be applicable for transition-related surgeries for transgender women (male-to-female) and transgender men (female-to-male), post-surgery medical care and post-surgery stay.
The Foundation considers a person’s medical history and verifies requisite documents prior to approving any grant requests. All services for applicants are free of cost. Surgery grants are directly credited to the Hospital/ clinic. In order to apply for a grant, the transgender individual of any nationality has to be between 20-45 years of age, diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria by a certified Psychiatrist(s), under Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) as prescribed by a certified Endocronologist(s) for a minimum period of a year.
Mann Chavan, Founder & Director, TALMS Charity Foundation commented, “As a transgender man myself, I have lived and know the struggle to secure funds for gender-affirming surgeries. The transgender community has been gaining momentum in terms of social awareness and acceptance over the years, however financial empowerment continues to be an area of concern. Medically transitioning can be a great relief to alleviate gender dysphoria* and help transgender people assimilate into their gender. Unfortunately, medical transition involves heavy costs that most trans people may not be able to access. I aim to bridge this gap through providing monetary relief.”
Corporates and Entrepreneurs who wish to donate/contribute can also do so. Currently, donations are open to Indian Nationals and Indian businesses only, as per the Government of India’s 12A & 80G tax benefits schemes.
The cause is primarily towards transitional surgeries, which require certain prerequisite documents, as prescribed by medical institutions and practitioners. It is therefore mandatory for the Foundation to abide by these guidelines, and applicants are expected to comply with the same. For more details on how to apply for surgery grants/ how to help assist in donation of funds for this cause, please visit https://www.talms.org/
*Gender dysphoria is a debilitating medical condition of experiencing discomfort owing to the disconnect between one’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth.