Mine started at the core of an Orthodox South Indian Christian family in Nigeria, West Africa, where I was born and raised. Being gay can be perceived as very shameful and devastating to an Indian family — regardless of how incredibly accomplished you might be. Silently, even today, most Indian parents would be thrilled if their kids became doctors —it’s estimated that India is the biggest source country for doctors in the US. This would give me a much better chance of getting into a good medical school. She was finishing her last year of medical school.

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Persons: Saju Mathew, X, CNN —, Saju Mathew Don Stallings, Mine, — it’s, Dr, Mathew, “ she’s, ”, don’t, fiancée, He's Organizations: CNN, Grady Hospital, Orthodox South Indian, Netflix, Morehouse School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, —, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Atlanta, Nigeria, West Africa, India, Kabba, Africa