2. Intersex rights: Understanding sex assignment and genital surgery
- Created by: Alasdair
- Created on: 09-12-17 14:06
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- 2. Intersex rights: Understanding sex assignment and genital surgery
- What is sex assignment?
- Legally each person must have a sex and (in the UK) there are only two options.
- So when an infant is identified as intersex a decision must be made about what sex to categorise them as
- These decisions are often, but not always, accompanied by medical procedures to bring the infant's body into line with what is considered normal for that sex.
- Sex assignment and medical procedures
- Genital surgery
- To create a more 'normal' appearance
- E.g. clitoral reduction
- Surgery to reproductive organs
- e.g. removal of internal testes in people assigned as female
- Hormone treatment to bring person into typical hormone range for assigned sex
- Note:
- Some intersex people also required medical treatment not for purposes of sex assignment
- Genital surgery
- How sex is assigned:
- Possibility of pregnancy
- Yes
- Assign female
- No
- Functioning penis?
- Yes
- Assign male
- No
- Assign female
- Yes
- Functioning penis?
- Yes
- Possibility of pregnancy
- What is a 'functioning penis'?
- Medical conception of a 'functioning penis' in context of sex assignment decisions:
- Allows for standing urination
- Allows for 'normal' vaginal penetration
- Won't expose the person to 'locket room teasing'
- In a newborn, a phallic structure of less than 2 cm is considered borderline, less than 1.5 cm would indicate assignment as female
- Medical conception of a 'functioning penis' in context of sex assignment decisions:
- What is sex assignment?
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