Bill banning unneeded surgery on intersex children sparks debate at the state Capitol

[TexasTowelie]

Sarah Kosheff was born with some of the physical traits of a female but also XY chromosomes and internal testes instead of ovaries.

At age 10, the Bridgeport resident underwent surgery to remove the testes, which doctors deemed “excess tissue.''

Six years later, Kosheff attended a conference for intersex people and met others who had been subjected to non-consensual surgeries to remove organs or reconstruct their genitalia. “Even in this modern day and age, hospitals perform unnecessary surgeries on babies and children to 'normalize’ their bodies in the eyes of society. But we are not the abnormal ones. We are not broken for being made a little bit different.”

Intersex is a broad term that encompasses a range of variations affecting the sex chromosomes, external genitalia or internal reproductive organs. About one in 2,000 babies are born with reproductive or sexual anatomy and/or a chromosome pattern that doesn’t fit binary definitions of male or female, according to interACT, an advocacy group for intersex youth.

Read more: https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-intersex-legislation-20190305-rion7jbaxjbolmnmabb3h3higi-story.html

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to be told that your newborn child

has ambiguous sexual traits.

I cannot begin to guess what sorts of normative rules should be applied. Hmmm. What if those most closely involved get to decide?

[TexasTowelie]

2. I don't know if you continued reading at the link,

but the article points out that the children that are affected usually do not get to make those decisions because of their age. However, physicians also believe that there is less pain involved when surgical procedures are performed at an earlier age (less than 10 years old).

With intersex characteristics more than the physical traits are involved. The psychological considerations such as to whether the child identifies as one gender or the other are equally important. My belief is that a government prohibition on the surgery would likely cause more harm, just as the government prohibition on alcohol did a century ago.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. I had not read the article before you pushed me to do so. Appropriately, I must add.

It brings up many of the complications involved in this area. As I stated above, I cannot imagine what it's like to be faced with this.

I can only state this in my defense. My oldest son has Asperger's, so he's always been different that way.

In addition, he lost all of his hair to alopecia areata when he was four years old. His younger brother went bald at the age of ten. Alopecia isn't remotely like what the article discusses. I'm only bringing it up to suggest I have a small clue as to what those with the gender issues have. But only a small clue.

Being bald is nothing compared to gender ambiguity or gender anomalies or gender anything else.

I was born in a female body, have always been quite content to be female, I'm heterosexual so I conform to gender stereotypes. Which means that in many ways I haven't a clue about various other things. I sincerely hope I'm open and understanding of many differences.

[TexasTowelie]

4. There is absolutely no need to defend yourself.

It's apparent to me that you are willing to consider and empathize with the differences that the intersex children experience. The parents may believe that they are making a sound decision to have the surgical procedures performed--especially before certain events occur such as when children start showering together in P.E. classes or before adolescence.

Unfortunately, the parent who probably shows less empathy towards the child and who wishes for the child to fit "the norm" is the father, who is the person that provided the chromosome determining gender and sex characteristics. Some of those men may even think of themselves as "abnormal" because they have an "abnormal" child. Therefore, they may be the parent that is pushing for corrective action to alleviate their own psychological issues while making the psychological issues of the child secondary.

It is obviously a tough situation for the entire family. There also doesn't appear to be an ideal solution on how to address the issues involved. My hope is that the child gets to have a say in the decision and that the government does not add obstacles after a decision is made. While I realize that authors of the bill may have good intentions and are attempting to protect children, I doubt that I would support the bill being passed into law.