Yomaira Castañeda
Age 6731 May 2024
Bogotá, Distrito Capital (Colombia)
Cosmetic filler complications
Yomaira passed away as a result of complications caused by biopolymers used in cosmetic filler injections over 30 years earlier. In death, her family erased her identity.
On May 31, 2024, Yomaira, a 67-year-old trans woman, passed away after decades of fighting the physical and emotional consequences caused by the injection of biopolymers into her body. Her story is a reflection of the clandestine procedures that many trans people undergo in Colombia. Yomaira not only carried the weight of her identity, but also that of a health system that did not provide her with care.
Yomaira arrived in Bogotá escaping the abuse and rejection she had faced since her childhood in Teruel, Huila. She was born into a deeply sexist environment, surrounded by 11 brothers who never understood her desire to be herself. By the age of ten, she was already a victim of sexual exploitation and abuse, and soon after she left home to survive on the streets of the capital, where drugs and alcohol became her temporary refuge.
At 33, in search of reaffirming her feminine identity, Yomaira decided to undergo clandestine cosmetic procedures that would change her life forever. She injected biopolymers into her buttocks, face, legs and breasts, hoping to achieve the figure she longed for. However, this decision was the beginning of an ordeal. Her body began to react severely to the injected products, generating rashes, wounds and pain that accompanied her for more than three decades.
Yomaira's physical deterioration was evident from the beginning. Seven years after undergoing the biopolymer injection, her skin began to redden and ooze, and the toxic substances spread throughout her body, even affecting her bones and lungs. Every time she went to medical centers, the response was the same: rejection. Health institutions were not prepared to treat her condition, and argued that the EPS did not cover this type of illness.
During her final years, Yomaira lived with Mrs. Maria Parra, who took her in as an adopted daughter when she arrived in Bogotá in search of a home. Maria was her guardian angel, taking care of her healing and accompanying her in the physical and emotional torment she suffered. However, not even this support could save her from the fate that the biopolymers had wrought on her. “Yomaira was already tired,” said Maria, who watched her slowly fade away.
On June 2, 2024, Yomaira's funeral was held. However, what was experienced that day was a final betrayal of her identity. Instead of honoring the woman who had fought to be herself, her biological family decided to say goodbye to “[deadname] Castañeda”. Yomaira's body lay dressed as a man, in a plaid shirt and beige pants, denying her life and identity even in death.
“You will always be Yomaira, you will never be [deadname],” were the words that echoed among the few friends who accompanied her at her funeral. While her blood family tried to erase all traces of her true identity, her trans friends, those who shared with her the most difficult moments of her life, mourned the silent end of a woman who always fought to be recognized.
