Two diagnoses that bring in the cash $$ for surgeons, psychiatrist, and therapist: Disorders of Sex Development, and Gender Dysphoria

Bottom line: If they can convince us, or our parents, that we are born in the wrong body, there is a TON of money to be made.

The two most common diagnosis that leads to genital surgery, sex reassignment surgery, or therapy are: Disorder of Sexual Development (DSD), and Gender Dysphoria.

I hope to educate this world so that these pressures to conform to what is male/female typical can stop, and people can finally have peace with the bodies they were born with. To me, this is more about “Cultural Dysphoria” than the personal problem experts try to make us believe we have. It is time to end Cultural Dysphoria so that the genitals of intersex babies are not such a threat! By ending cultural dysphoria, gender dysphoria will no doubt vanish, or lessen significantly with transgender people too.

It doesn’t matter if we are born intersex, or identify as being transgender. The system is created to make us feel that our bodies need “fixed”, that we are “born in the wrong body”, and that we need to align to the strict male/female binary expectations of male and female.

Daily, Intersex Genital Corrective Surgery or Cosmetic Genital Surgery happens in the United States, and pretty much everywhere in the world. Sometimes it is called “Genital Normalizing Genital Surgery”. Most of these surgeries occurring on infants and young children, who can not even give their voice yet. Many more occur on transgender people, who are made to believe that they have to have the surgery to be whole or “pass”. Needless to say, in some places, one has to have surgery to even change their birth certificate’s gender. I feel this is wrong on every level.

For transgender, and some adults, top surgery (chest surgery), is the most common. This is when breasts are created, or a masculine chest created, depending on the person’s request. However, “bottom surgery” is also offered to those who can afford it, and take the risks involved in having surgically created genitals that conform to the appearance of a typical male or female. These surgeries are extremely expensive, and carry significant risks that include the loss of: fertility, sexual sensation, sexual function, and create scaring.

Here are my four thoughts and what I believe about corrective surgeries and therapy:

Self Determination is a Human Right. I don’t care if you are born intersex, transgender, or not. Every single human being should be able to decide their gender, and not have to be assigned by the appearance of their genitals at birth.
Gender is a personal thing and is how one feels internally about themselves. Gender is not determined by our genitals, reproductive system, hormones or chromosomes.
I believe that only with full consent, and full knowledge, should a person have surgery to conform to what is typical. That surgery should never be done on an infant or child. Surgery should not be decided by our culture, government, doctors, friends, family, or churches either.
I believe that genital integrity is a human right; and we should be allowed to have the genitals and body, that we are born with. No one should ever feel that they are “born in the wrong body”. It is my hope to see more and more gender nonconforming people in the world, but if a person must have surgery to conform, then that should be their right to do so.

A related blog: Do I Pass, What Gender Am I?