Inter-sexual and Treatment
The question is quiet a difficult one to answer. Being assessed as inter-sexual does not automatically demand one gets medical “treatment”. Some inter-sexuals are assessed at birth; others may not be assessed until adulthood or even death. There are innumerable disorders that sometimes involve intersex anatomy:
5-Alpha Reductase Deficiency
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS)
Clitoromegaly
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)
Hypospadias
Ovo-testes
Turner Syndrome
These and variations of these can cause for some type of medical/psychological treatment or not.
I was born a true hermaphrodite with ovo-testis, the ovary and the testis grew separately, but bilaterally (The Sciences, pg. 22). In my early 30s I had surgery at UCLA Medical Center. At which time the testis was removed, on the other hand, they did not do a clitoroplasty as planned; they thought clitoromegaly would be reduced by supplemental hormone therapy. However, I had an adverse reaction to the drug Hydrocortisone and other drugs which prohibited my using them.
In my case, I needed the surgery, but I found that I could survive very well without the medications, others can not because their particular anomaly are life threatening and interferes with normal body functions. For instance, if a child is born without a urinary opening – fix it, or if they have active gonadal cancer, or hypospadias - fix it, or frequent bladder infections - fix it! I object to surgeries that are done simply to normalize the genitals, but not surgeries that can truly help to normalize a child’s life.
Why is it so important to have a gender assigned to a child? Socialization cries out loudest for this. Intersex is not a discrete biological category, but then neither is male or female. I was told by my faith community whatever role I chose was just fine, just stay with it. But, because I look female I doubt they would have accepted me as male. At this point, I am very reluctant to participate in spiritual or any other activities that demand I be what I am not. Not because they are concerned for me and who I am, but because they are concerned for themselves and what they believe.
There was no opportunity for me to choose gender as a child. The doctors handed my mother a baby girl. Later, my surgery was done the testis was removed because it could have turned cancerous later. My testosterone hormone levels were extremely high (the level of a 17-year-old male after surgery) and the levels are still very high.
I did not choose this anomaly it chose me, and for years I was angry about it. I was angry that I did not have what others took for granted, gender specificity. For years I cried out for a place to fit. I did not want to submit myself to a lifetime of medical exploitation. I could not find a psychologist who could explain what was going on with on the inside. By the time I figured it on my own, they had all told me I was going to hell and I believed them! Human beings are much more complex than male/female. We should grow up in knowledge rather than suppress others whom we may not understand. I do not want to be forced to choose a gender. I do however; understand that this is the way the world works. We are a binary world and in order to live in it we must chose, government says we must chose, our school systems say we must chose, our families look for a girl or a boy on the first call home after a birth.
I am a hermaphrodite/intersexual which would they call me “fem-male”? Perhaps that is not such a bad choice at all.
I applaud how open and honest you are about yourself. If we all were thus perhaps people would not have so many misunderstandings and prejudices. For it is the unknown, that of which we are as people ignorant of that makes us fear or judge. Everyone one has trials to go through, some mental some physical. I believe it is our ability to go through these trials with a since of self that is what is important. Isn’t’ it odd to find that people want to be seen as individual, yet they cannot see other people for who they are. Though it is not at all the same experience, I can relate to some of what you have gone through. I have had to have operations to fix physical/medical problems. I have been on many different hormonal regiments to try and ease pain that comes with my problems. I chose these operations and hormones not because of what other’s wanted or needed but because I needed them to ease pain and discomfort and guard from future medical problems. Medicine can be very helpful when a person needs it, when they decide for themselves that it can improve their quality of life. For it is life, it is what we do and who we are, not who we are perceived to be that shows one’s measure. At least that is the way it is in my idealized version/hope of the world.
ReplyDeleteLet me start off by revealing how much of a geek I really am. When you listed the disorders associated with intersex, I got really excited. I wasn’t excited because I thought “good for them” or “they deserved it” but only because I could figure out what each meant (vaguely) by their names. (I graduated with a biology/chemistry major ) I am perpetually in awe at how complex and intricate the human body is by nature, but also how everything is there for a reason, nothing is out of place. It amazes me too how a simple mutation, even just one deletion or insertion in the DNA sequence can totally change the physical, mental, social aspects of an individual. (It also frightens me how we already possess so much power in terms of gene therapy and genetic screening.)
ReplyDeleteNow let’s return back to the original matter at hand. I know this is a major cop out, but I am in agreement with pretty much everything you say in your post. However, I would like to comment on certain sentences/phrases that struck me as I read.
“At this point, I am very reluctant to participate in spiritual or any other activities that demand I be what I am not. Not because they are concerned for me and who I am, but because they are concerned for themselves and what they believe.”
I love that you point out the hypocrisy of people who claim to have an “open-mind” and welcome everybody, but in truth, whether subconsciously or purposely, try to bend/mold the “deviant” so that they “fit” into what they know/what they find comfortable instead of spending a little effort and trying to understand instead.
“I cried out for a place to fit.” This may sound like teenage angst, but given the previous statement that I just highlighted, would you really want to “fit in” to a place/society that is so close minded, lazy, and selfish? I admit that I am a hypocrite when I should be asked to answer the statement truthfully because I feel that it would be a vain endeavor. I don’t think that trying to get people to understand to be a worthless effort, but I would just get frustrated at trying to get EVERYBODY to understand. I believe that in order to truly understand, individuals must actively engage themselves in/with these issues to allow them to interpret them on a personal level. I don’t know how it’s like for most people but for me, simply being told something, I am reluctant to regard it as truth because it’s too detached in order for me to fully appreciate. I have to actually seek out the information myself. This is only true for things I know that I can physically determine for myself. (I will accept as truth that there are millions and millions of balls of hot gases light years/megaparsecs away (stars), but if you tell me that the paint on a wall is wet, I absolutely HAVE to touch it.)
I agree with you when you said “I object to surgeries that are done simply to normalize the genitals, but not surgeries that can truly help to normalize a child’s life.” Like I always say “What is ‘Normal’?” I mean, no one is 100% normal. There are many kinds of different people, and I think society should just embrace that. There’s a song by The Little Mermaid that I think best summarizes what I feel about this issue. The message is to for everyone to get along and live in harmony. The song is called “In Harmony”, and the lyrics express how no one is the same, the lyrics are: “If there was only one note, how boring life would be, I'm glad there are so many notes, in many different keys.” I really believe this, how boring would life be if there were no variety in people on their personality and physicality? So I believe that there being only two genders is just pointless. There should have another option where you can even choose “Hermaphrodite”, “Inter-Sex”, and many other different choices to be able to characterize a person in how they really are, than how people/parents want them to be. !Peace & Love!
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