Intersexuality
Intersexuality is being born with the genitalia and/or chromosomes of both male and female.
Due to social stigmas, most intersex babies undergo surgery to correct the genital ambiguity. However, this does not change the way the children grow up to feel internally about their gender. In fact, this usually causes more problems later in life.
Gender identity is not exclusive to a person’s external organs. The child will either identify as a man or a woman, and if they have been modified through surgery, this can only complicate the process.
Unfortunately many people still react cruelly to intersexuality. But progress is being made to educate people about it, therefore creating a culture of more open mindedness.
Most recently, an episode of ABC’s drama Private Practice dealt with an intersex baby. The episode, which was seen by 11.2 Million viewers, started out with a couple rejecting their baby for being intersex, demanding that surgery be done to make the child “normal”.
But as the storyline evolves, the parents come to love and accept the baby, understanding that the child deserves to choose his or her own gender identity when they are older. After that point, corrective surgery will be appropriate, if the child does choose to undergo it.
I was happy to see a mainstream TV show deal openly with it. The storyline explored the full range of emotions, from fearing that the child would be outcast to finally realizing that love and acceptance starts inside the home. And the show was accurate in the depiction, as many doctors are now refusing to operate on intersex babies to modify their genitalia.
To learn more, visit the ISNA (Intersex Society of North America).
Intersex illustration by Robert Neubecker, borrowed from this Slate article.
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