intersex

LoriLee14

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/12/north-carolina-gender-reassignment-lawsuit-_n_3915532.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl24%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D374130

Would you be able to decide a sex for your child or would you let them decide for themselves? At what age?

joyfullyfound

Jeeeeez... Poor little guy  

I think we'd wait and let them decide at whatever age they come to a decision. From the stories I've seen, it seems like children in similar situations just know what gender they are, despite their physical anatomy, even from a young age. 

thechickencoop

Wow, what a sad case.  What I don't understand is why that type of decision would be left up to the courts for children in foster care.  I mean, they're not doctors, right?  I can only hope that the physicians treating him as an infant made the best decision with the information that was available to them at the time, and that it wasn't "well, this is easier".  I do think that a child would be able to 'tell' (for lack of a better word) what they should be as they grow up, so it would be something that could be resolved down the line.  Just a sad story for all involved though.

hero

I think reassignment surgery on babies is terrible. I thought that doctors had stopped reassignment surgeries on babies that obviously have both male and female genitalia, at least until the child is closer to puberty or is able to have a choice in the matter. 

Minipenguin

There a treatment they can do now before puberty that will stop a child from going through puberty normally and will give them the hormones they need to have their body develop as the sex they choose. But, obviously, the parents and child need to make that decision before the child starts puberty so at a fairly young age.

I don't know what I would do. I don't think a child that young is capable of understanding something that will affect them for their whole life. But it's also not my body. I just hope it's a decision I never have to make.

notreallyirish

aliebno said:

Wow, what a sad case.  What I don't understand is why that type of decision would be left up to the courts for children in foster care.  I mean, they're not doctors, right?  I can only hope that the physicians treating him as an infant made the best decision with the information that was available to them at the time, and that it wasn't "well, this is easier".  I do think that a child would be able to 'tell' (for lack of a better word) what they should be as they grow up, so it would be something that could be resolved down the line.  Just a sad story for all involved though.

It says the doctors didn't even go before an ethics panel though, which is bizarre since this is obviously an ethically debatable situation.

If it were my child I would want genetic testing to know what condition was causing them to have both sets of genitals. If the testing showed a specific condition I would look into what people with that condition typically identify with and go with that as a gender identity at least as a young child, just to make things simpler in dealing with other people, so the child wouldn't unnecessarily stand out among his/her peers and just to be able to use conventional language to refer to him/her on a daily basis. I wouldn't press hard with gender roles (not that I do anyway) and I would hope to always be open to the child's preferences as he/she got older. I wouldn't do any surgery on an infant unless it were medically necessary.