Anaya Bangar, the child of former India cricketer and coach Sanjay Bangar, is set to undergo gender-affirming surgery in March. A cricketer and transgender rights advocate, Anaya has spoken openly about her transition journey and revealed that she now has the full support of her family, with her father bearing the entire cost of the procedure.
Anaya shared that she will undergo vaginoplasty at a clinic in Thailand, where she will need to stay for at least a month before returning for further recovery. “I’ll be having the surgery in March. Fashion designer Saisha Shinde and actress Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, who have both undergone the procedure, guided me,” Anaya told The Times of India. “I won’t be able to play cricket for at least six months, but I’m glad this is finally happening.”
Reflecting on the long journey leading up to the decision, Anaya said she had waited five years for this moment. “This is who I am. I never felt aligned with the gender I was born with. The decision came after years of therapy, medical evaluations and deep self-reflection. I went through extensive psychological and medical assessments to ensure I was ready,” she said.
While Anaya’s younger brother Atharva has always stood by her, she revealed that her parents initially struggled to come to terms with her transition. She has previously spoken about being told by her father that she no longer had a future in cricket, even as she continued to advocate for the inclusion of transgender athletes in the sport.
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Over time, however, things changed. “I received immense support from people and was in a better place financially too. My father saw people respecting me, standing by me, taking pictures with me,” Anaya said. “Both my parents realised this wasn’t a phase. They saw that I was serious about my life and my choices.”
That shift eventually led to full acceptance. “My father is bearing the complete expenses of my surgery,” she said. “At one point, I was completely on my own in the UK, and there is still a lot of stigma around LGBTQ+ people within families.”
Anaya hopes her story will help make conversations around gender identity easier for others. “By speaking out and by my family supporting me, I hope it helps other trans women. In a country where discussions around gender identity are still difficult within families, my parents’ support means everything to me.”
