deviousways

Farheena was just 10 and a half when she attained puberty. Doctors told her mother Farida Rizwan to get a hysterectomy done. Because Farheena is a special needs child--she has cerebral palsy and some mental retardation. “I was told a hysterectomy will help me avoid all the hygiene issues surrounding her menstruation,” said Rizwan, who was based in Byndoor, a coastal town in Udupi district in Karnataka, at the time. The mother later found out that some local parents had already done the uterus-removal operation for their own young, special needs daughters. But she refused. “I kept asking doctors what side effects she would experience if they did such a surgery at her age. I never got an answer,” said Rizwan. Today, Farheena is 18. She lives in Bangalore with her mother and older brother Rayyan (22) and she attends a special-needs school in south Bangalore. The teenager is active on FaceBook, plays games on her mother's iPad and remarkably, for a special-needs person,...