The Weight of Being Dr Cuterus: The Doctor-Educator Changing Women’s Health Conversations in India

When Dr. Tanaya Narendra — better known to her 2-million-strong Instagram family as Dr Cuterus — walked into our office on a October morning, the first thing anyone noticed was the infectious energy she brought with her. A cheerful “Hiii!” to the makeup artist, big smiles for whoever wanted a selfie with her, and loud giggles every time someone cracked a joke. Within minutes, she’d warmed up to everyone — inquisitive, chatty, and very real.

Instagram is undoubtedly one of the most crowded places, when it comes to advice beind dished out. A lot of it is questionable, a lot of it is misleading. Tanaya is one of India’s most important digital educators on sexual and reproductive health.

Her content is fun, sharp, factual, feminist, and compassionate. It’s also easy to understand and grasp. Most importantly, it’s on topics India has remained ‘shush’ on, for decades.

On her profile, you’ll come across reels with boob plushies, 3d vagina models and more, all while she talks about sex, periods, pleasure, breasts and women’s health. She debunks sex myths, urges women to get the HPV vaccine and demonstrates ways to insert a menstrual cup – among many other informative pieces.

In one reel she debunks in detail why virginity is a construct, and in another explains how to have safe oral sex. She openly detailed out her own experience of egg freezing. She harps on how menstrual blood is anything but dirty, and also explains what different period blood colours could mean. She shows real underwear to explain why sometimes area get bleached or discoloured. Her page is a information storehouse – each post and reel sparks curiosity, and then answers and informs.

She loudly calls body parts what they are - vulva, penis, vagina and more. She has also written a book, ‘Everything Nobody Tells You About Your Body’.

But being a female content creator, in India, talking about taboo topics, comes with it’s own share of myriad challenges.

This is the story of Dr Cuterus.

Growing Up With No Shame, No Stigma — Just Stories Of The Body

Tanaya grew up in Allahabad, in a house bustling with medicine and knowledge, as both her parents are doctors.

“I never grew up in a taboo atmosphere,” she said. “Even conversations around menstruation was very, very relaxed.” In fact, the first person who explained periods to her wasn't her mother, but her older brother.

At home, bodies were normal. Questions were welcome. Nothing was “shameful.”.

When she heard about porn for the first time, she went straight to her parents. Their response wasn’t anger or shock. It was a calm acknowledgment: many adults consume porn, you don’t need to explore it yet, and you’ll learn about these things as you grow up.

Choosing to become a doctor herself was an easy, obvious choice for Tanaya.

The Accidental Instagram Detour for The Doc

Tanaya specialised in fertility after completing her MBBS. The subjects genuinely fascinated her, and continues to do till date. Her passion for her profession was visible in how her eye light up every time she talks about her work.

“She moved to the UK for medical school. What she saw there changed her.

“I saw how dignified healthcare is,” she explained. “How everything is explained to the patient. How option-based and patient-focused it is.” She cleared exams, and was getting ready for practice, when COVID hit.

Flights shut down. Hospitals paused fertility treatments (Tanaya’s specialization) because no one knew how the virus affected pregnancies. Her job interviews in the UK stalled. She found herself, like millions, stuck at home with an indefinite sense of uncertainty.

So, she began posting content under the handle she had tentatively begun earlier — Uterine Reflex, later rebranded to the now-iconic Dr Cuterus.

But those early months of the pandemic saw the internet being filled with misinformation — and she began by debunking most of this.

“It just so happened,” she smiled. “I had no idea it would blow up.”

She was one of the firsts to do it. Her voice and energy, backed by medical training, was a quick hit. A woman doctor talking clearly about sex, periods, vaginas, fertility, orgasms, condoms, without judgement or embarrassment was new, fresh and much-needed.

Myths, Misogyny, and the Daily Shock of the DMs

Instagram opened Tanaya’s eyes to just how prevalent misinformation and myths were in the country.

“Till this day,” she highlighted, “I get at least 15 DMs asking if they can wash their hair on their period.”

She still marvels at the dichotomy: “One part of the world is diving with menstrual cups, and the other world won’t let girls wash their hair during periods.”

There’s the ugly side of things too.

“You say the word ‘boobs,’ even in a medical context, and people sexualize it immediately,” she explained. “A woman talking openly about her body goes against the ethos of so many people.”

She recounted how her clothing choices are also often questioned. One time, she posted a video about wearing sleeveless clothing and body positivity, and was shamed for it. “There’s this idea that a woman of my ‘stature’ shouldn’t dress like that,” she says. “As if feeling comfortable in the heat is somehow parading myself or inviting sexual commentary.”

The harassment doesn’t remain restricted to just online spaces. Once, when she mistakenly shared a hospital contact, and trolls started harassing her staff and nurses.

Every female sex educator faces this, she added.

Weight Of Expectations, Especially as a Woman Doctor Influencer

Another common experience is people sending her reports, pictures and deeply personal questions, expecting solutions and diagnosis on DMs.

“They’ll bombard me with info, expecting me to reply within minutes. And when I don’t, or I ask them to book an appointment with a doctor, they get angry,” she recounted.

Tanaya tells me, that if she opened her DMs right now, and checked the first 100 messages, she’d see 75 being: 'Yeh mera report hai,' 'Yeh mera breast hai,' 'Yeh mera penis hai,' 'Yeh mera vagina hai,' 'Yeh mera vulva hai,' 'Yeh mera skin hai.’

“Then, if I say I can’t diagnose on DMs, they’ll start saying I’m doing this for just the money,” she added.

What often goes unseen in her public persona is the sheer emotional labour that comes with visibility. Especially, as a woman doctor.

“I don't think men get intrusiveness to this degree when they are content creators, but women definitely do face it,” said Tanaya. “I think that caregiver role is extended in so many ways and that's a very, very interesting aspect of being an influencer and being a doctor and being a woman.”

In her view, this isn’t just a creator problem but a symptom of a broken healthcare system, one where people turn to Instagram because they cannot access support elsewhere. It’s a lopsided, intrusive ecosystem, she said, and one that reveals far more about our social expectations and systemic gaps.

A Doctor Who Is Non Judgemental and Openminded

When I ask her, why she doesn’t consider making content full time, she said, “How many people do you know goes to doctors, and can openly talk about sex, without being shamed or judged?”

It’s evident that she loves her profession, and is truly on a path to make better changes in her field. Her movement and series of posts encouraging people to get the HPV vaccine has indeed led to a lot of people taking it, including me.

In a country where sex education is practically nonexistent in schools, where menstruation is talked about in hushed tones and where even gynaecological visits are kept under wraps, Dr Cuterus represents a cultural shift. And hopefully, this is one that’ll women will see around far more commonly in the future, than we do now.

Dr Cuterus brought fun and normalcy to topics we brushed under the rug. She is the doctor most of us didn’t know we needed — until she showed up on our screens and changed the way Indians talk about their own bodies.