Sister Ba making fresh pancakes for customers.

Sister Ba’s journey to become true self

Born as a boy and grown up to become a woman: This is the story of Sister Ba (also known as Nguyen Van Chau), and her journey to become a woman.

Overcoming a mother’s scolding, a father’s whip and social prejudice, she gradually sought a meaningful life and lived to become her true self.

To save money for transgender surgery, Sister Ba started making cheese — shredded pork pancakes. Every day, she rides from her house in the suburbs (Binh Chanh District), traveling 10 kilometers to make ends meet, regardless of the weather or if it is a holiday.

At the intersection of Khanh Hoi Street and 41st Street (Ward 6, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City), around 5:00 p.m. every day, you can find Sister Ba with her small cart, gently incorporating new mixtures for her fresh and warm batches of pancakes.

Sister Ba making fresh pancakes at the intersection of Khanh Hoi Street and 41st Street (Ward 6, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City). Every 15–20 minutes, a customer stops by for some pancakes.

From noon until dark, her whole family vends. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sau sell bananas, while Sister Ba sells pancakes. Everyone is busy with their business, but when there is time, they give each other a hand.

Ba’s father helping her getting ready for the night: getting the cart out to the intersection from a garage near by and cutting hotdogs for pancakes filling.

She recounted, every night before going to bed, she always imagined what it would be like to be a woman: “Would I be beautiful? Would I be feminine?”

Sister Ba showed herself in family and childhood photos.

After that, Ba would run to the mirror and contemplate every line, every feature in her face, with her heart filled with hope.

Finally, the day that Ba anticipated had come. On September 2, 2015, she had managed to save 100 million VND and went to Thailand to undergo major transgender surgery.

The scars remains from Ba's breast surgery.

The surgery was successful. When people showed Ba a mirror, she did not dare to look.

She opens a photo taken from after the surgery, when she was still wearing a fixative bra.

“Ba was scared, the only thing I had dreamed for so long has come true. Ba didn’t know why Ba was afraid”, she recalls.

Later on, she was given a hormonal injection once a week, getting ready for the transgender surgery.

After major surgery, Sister Ba returned to selling as usual. She still had to keep taking hormones to keep her female body. She said that the cost of medicine is very expensive. The price of medicine in Vietnam is twice as high as in Thailand, so she often asks friends to bring home medicine.

“When I was a high school student, hormones pills were unaffordable. I mainly took birth control pills.”

Sister Ba's main source of hormonal medication, brought to her by friends coming home from Thailand. While showing her pills, she repeatedly reminding me "White pills are made in Germany, pinks are Thailand's" as if she were reminding herself the medication routine.

If she stopped using the medication, her muscles would begin to bulge, and her beard would start to grow back. However, continue using medication will make her suffer from the side effects of the drugs: bones weakening and energy decline.

Ba's family helping her pulling the cart since her leg hurts from the hormonal medication she is using.

Ba is one of the lucky transgendered people who are accepted and understood by her family.

Ba's parents always around her when she is in need.

Ms. Ba smiled kindly: “My parents love me very much. There was a day when I overheard father talking to mother and told her whether I was a girl or a boy or anything, as long as I am a good person, happy and healthy, that’s enough for them.”

Story and Photos: Tran Dinh