Lu Lukah Orona.

Photo: Courtesy the subject

I was 17 when I began my medical transition at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. It had taken over a year of fighting through referrals, canceled appointments, and “we don’t do that here” dismissals before CHLA became an avenue for freedom. CHLA gave me what other clinics had refused: the dignity of choice, and with it, the chance to feel at home in my own body.

For years, my body felt foreign. I had no real sense of home, safety, or connection until I began testosterone. A year later, CHLA opened the door to top surgery. I took my first full breath – free from the chest binders I had worn for years, and free from the deeper binds of a health care system that had long denied me care. CHLA was the first place I felt truly safe and affirmed.

I s

See Full Page