It is time to stop the “normalizing” genital surgery on intersex infants!

This diagram, above, shows some of the varieties of genital appearance that can occur in some forms of intersex.  Often, when a baby is born appearing like one of these varieties of human, it is considered a “psychosocial emergency”; and doctors want to make the child appear as typical as possible as soon as possible.  The UNITED NATIONS have now declared these medical interventions torture.  Yet, at this time only TWO COUNTRIES, Malta and Chile have laws to stop these horrendous surgeries!

We now know that chromosomes and the presence of a penis or vagina, does not create one’s gender.  Plus, regardless of gender, a person has the right to have the genitals of their choice, and the natural sexual function of those genitals later as an adult.

They often literally cut off, or reduce down the  large clitoris (clitoromegaly), phalo-clitoris,   microhallus, or penis, destroying sexual pleasure.  All too often, creating much pain later in life, and sometimes these surgeries even destroy fertility.  In creating a “typical female”, surgeons also give the message, to the world,  that when turned into a typical female, one only has to please their husbands later in life.  That their own sexual pleasure is not necessary.  The problem is also, one cannot create sexual orientation either by the removal of parts.  If an intersex person is going to appear gay or lesbian, surgery as an infant is not going to stop it.  And needless to say, even if they do happen to be female and marry their husband, after the removal of their enlarged clitoris or penis they will never have an orgasm.

I feel it is an intersex person’s human right to be given the right of “Self-Determination” of gender.  Gender is also a  spectrum.  Some with the above genitals may be female, some male, and some non-binary gender.  It is also their human right, to have the gender expression (how one dresses/appears male or female) of their choice.  It is also an intersex person’s human right to develop the sexual orientation of their choice (who they want to make love to).

The biggest point here, is that no doctor, pyshciatrist, psychologist, nor any gender expert, can know what an intersex infant/child will become, or know what they will want later in life.  

Nevertheless, Infant surgery to genitals like these happen daily in this world, and often ends in tragedy.  There are thousands of intersex babies surgically violated daily in this world, and way too many grow up to feel disgusted with the results of their surgery.  Worse, all too often one surgery fails, and it ends up a lifetime of surgeries, being raised the wrong gender, or even suicide.

It is simply time to fix culture, to make a place for intersex people to exist with dignity and human rights, and to stop the genital mutilation of intersex babies and children.

This is truly a case of Culture Dysphoria, when the birth of such a baby is labeled a “psychosocial emergency”.   Genitals like these, in the above diagram, are naturally occurring, and is a part of nature’s diversity.  This is not an emergency to fix.

Intersex people have been around since the beginning of humans walking this Earth.  It is now time that doctors stopped “fixing” us, to fit a male and female genital binary that is a myth.  

Please also read my poems:  Can You Think Outside This Male and Female Box?  and 

I Promise to Be Your Voice: My New Years Resolution; or my blog: “It’s too small, let’s make them into a girl!” Yup, this atrocity is still happening today!

Note: The diagram above, of the genitals, is known as the “Prader Scale”, and is used by the medical community.  I took the liberty to add “typical” and take out “normal”; I also wrote down “Varieties of Human Being”, to show that this is not a “defect”.  You can read more about it here:  Wikipedia: Prader Scale.  You can also read: Intersexed CAH and the Prader Scale, from Novel Activist.

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A Sad UPDATE to this blog: 

We thought Chili had outlawed these surgeries on nonconsenting intersex children. It ends up that something else ended up happening to the creation of this new law that invalidates the original resolution. Quote: On August 23, 2016, the Chilean Ministry of Health issued Circular No. 7, 2016, which invalidated Circular No. 18, 2015, which had been highlighted for demanding a cessation of irreversible and unnecessary surgeries and medical treatments in intersex children. Please read more: CIRCULAR 7, 2016: A STEP BACK IN THE FIGHT FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF INTERSEX PEOPLE IN CHILE. By Laura Inter and Hana Aoi. 

 

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~.V.~