Because of what they perceived as their parents' transphobia, Indya made the difficult decision to leave home at 14, eventually dropping out of school in tenth grade. After leaving home and entering the foster-care system, they went in and out of several foster homes and group homes, living in all five boroughs and facing plenty of abuse and discrimination. "My [birth] parents loved me dearly, but we were having issues with my identity being [recognised at home]," Indya told the New York Post in May 2018. "They thought I was essentially in harm's way because of the way I existed."