US: Doctors Still Do Harmful Surgeries on Intersex Kids

Medical professional associations should enact standards of care for intersex children that rule out medically unnecessary surgery before patients are old enough to consent, Human Rights Watch and interACT said in a report released today. After decades of controversy in the medical community over the procedures, the lack of centralized care standards allows doctors to continue operating on children’s gonads, internal sex organs, and genitals when they are too young to participate in the decision, even though such surgery is dangerous and could be safely deferred.

The 41-page report, “A Changing Paradigm: US Medical Provider Discomfort with Intersex Care Practices,” examines the controversy over the operations inside the medical community and the pressure on parents to opt for surgery.

[Pyriphlegeton]

End medically unnecessary cosmetic surgery on kids.
Great message.
Circumcision should definitely be included in that.

[socalknight]

Remember her from her episode on Oprah. Remembered her saying she wanted to study medicine so happy to see that she succeeded!

[Gaetano.]

1:37

Listen up parents. Don't mutilate your baby boy just to look more "like his dad" or do it for any other stupid reason. You are taking away something that he maybe would have loved. He can make that decision when he's older!!

[djhogan]

What a complex subject, my heart goes out to these people

[pattiburkholder]

Yea I wish they'd stop these types of surgeries as well. Parent choose the sex and the doc performs them. How about letting the kids grow up and let THEM decide on the sex instead of screwing them up for life...

[WatrfrontTampa]

As a medical student years ago - we knew there were up to 6 different DNA types of human sexual variations - and 2 genders. This has always been in medicine. It is sad when some physicians are not educated enough to realize that nothing should be done until after the child goes through puberty - and let the child determine their sexual destiny and indentity without any surgery. Surgery should be determined by the young adult, while this child is being medically followed until 18. This also lets the child feel they have total control over their destiny - and provides mental stability and happiness. Please keep talking and reaching other people with this human story - this is the greatest contribution you can give the world - your wisdom about your life !!

[projectwaveform]

Should be the same for circumcision in males..

[BoltRunner]

Female intersex and male cosmetic surgery’s no body should have that kind of power over you it’s violating never understood how one can not understand the pain that’s why I am creating a movie called the unbiased truth of Circumcision

[CraftyAndyCreates]

just like circumcision, should be 18 to decide I suppose.

[timpsonsampson]

It's time the intersex community come together and submit a letter to Congress to make it a law to ban any Doctors from performing any surgery on intersex kids under 16 years of age

[herobrine__]

I completely understand all this I was born intersex myself they never told my mom because she was in a coma for 3 weeks

[emme-]

There have always been intersex people. Even though surgeries exist, it seems unethical to surgically alter babies to confirm to norms. These babies have their rights to bodily autonomy taken away from them.
Perhaps the real issue is accepting intersex as a normal occurrence instead of attempting to cancel it out.

[shirleyyap]

in Islam, we're suggested to wait at least until they shows sign of what they lean more to biologically, socially and physically, in Islam we believe in only two genders, male and female, so we had to watch intersex kid carefully as they grow so we can decide and know what their gender is, when they're a baby, we look at how they pee, if they pee from female urethra, their a female, if they pee from the penis, their a male, but usually we still wait until they've had their puberty, they just look at how they pee so they can put the baby gender in the birth certificate.

after they hit puberty, we look whether they had periods or they produce sperms, if they had periods and pee from female urethra, they're female, if they pee from penis and produce sperms, they're a male.

after looking at them biologically, now we have to look at how they socialise which usually around toodlers age, If they were into men and like men, they're a female, if they're into girls and like girls, they're a male.

physically, if they had periods, pee from female urethra and have more feminine looks like female face, grow breast and wider hips, they're a girl, if they produce sperms, pee from penis and have masculine looks like Adam apple, beard and mustache, they're a male.

usually these surgery were done when they already hit puberty, such as had periods or produce sperms, which usually around 9 years old to 18 years old, but most had the surgery at 14 until 16 years old.

[ZRRESISTANCE]

Now this recently proven scientifically since birth
Trans positive

[starrealm]

What is the cause of this happening at birth if intersex is still uncommon and rare?

[karimkhan]

sir = magistrate broke my bone and put me in jail in false case - pray help me -india

[christdaily]

What about endocrinal treatments given to people with gender dysphoria how lethal is it to give kids puberty blockers at a small age, when they are surely able to give consent, but not fully capable making right decisions and these endocrine specialist act like every thing is fine and follow the orders of those stubborn kids instead of thinking from humanitarian stand point.

[karimkhan]

sir - magistrate broke my bone and put me in jail in false case = pray help me =india

[louisreyes]

Children can't make a parent agree to have surgeries to change there sex., and vice versa . Over 40 years ago a co worker of mine had a child born with organs outside of the body .No sexual organs had formed, they made him a boy .I understand that hard decision . I do not agree with these puberty blockers or changing the sex of a child .AT18 years old do what they want, but read about depression and suicide first . Leave the children out of this

[bobbycone]

I don't know about this.... Thinking of a teenager or young adult who is ready to start exploring with others sexually and then they have to deal with having genitals that look different than most others could be very difficult for them. Personally I'd rather it happen while I'm a small baby so I would have a better chance of not having to go through that embarrassment as a young adult. I get that not everyone will feel this way and I was not born intersex so not saying that I know exactly what they would feel like, I was born and still am a male but I do have a small story that I feel like could relate to what I'm trying to say. I was circumsized as a baby and the foreskin was only cut off about 95% of the way and the doctors told my parents that it would just fall away as it healed. Didn't happen. I'm almost 40 years old and to this day I have a couple small pieces of skin that wouldn't be there if that circumcision was done properly. As a teenager and a young adult when I was dating I found this to be extremely concerning because I had to explain it any time I was with a girl. Talk about some freaking awkward conversations sometimes, let me tell ya. Luckily it's not too noticeable and doesn't interfere with anything at all but it's there and I could have avoided all the worry and embarrassment about it had the docs done the right thing when I was a baby. So I am, in a small way relating my experience to someone who was born intersex and maybe the doctors are trying to help the kid avoid something like this later in life, something like what I went though. Again, I get that not everyone will see it this way but I encourage you to at least put yourself in the shoes of someone who would have to go through that as they grew up and became sexually active and just think about how that could affect their life if they were say a woman and had to explain to any man they were about to be with that they had a micro penis or something else that wasn't the norm or possibly what the other person was expecting. Also not saying that anything would be wrong with that and I hope anyone who does have to do that gets the respect they deserve, but I can, at least from my experience, say it can be very difficult. So I don't necessarily think that doctors should not be doing this, but it should ALWAYS be a decision involving the parents of the child. Never without concent. I do definitely agree with that part. I just can't say I think it's totally unnecessary surgery. If it's done with care, concent by parents and done carefully with minimal risk then I think it can be the right thing to do and a lot of people are probably thankful it was done if it happened to them. Thats my thoughts on it anyway. Take it for what you will.