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69-537: Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics , including chromosome patterns, gonads , or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights , "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". Sex assignment at birth usually aligns with a child's external genitalia . The number of births with ambiguous genitals
138-408: A 2003 letter to the editor, political scientist Carrie Hull analyzed the data used by Fausto-Sterling and said the estimated intersex rate should instead have been 0.37%, due to many errors. In a response letter published simultaneously, Fausto-Sterling welcomed the additional analysis and said "I am not invested in a particular final estimate, only that there BE an estimate." A 2018 review reported that
207-517: A change in sex classification from female. Two clinicians were appointed by the court to perform an examination. They found that "the male sex is the dominant one". The examiners were the Physician-in-Chief and a senior surgeon, both working at the Sacra Infermeria . The Grandmaster himself took the final decision for Mifsud to wear male-only clothes from then on. In 2013, Malta hosted
276-402: A child is born so noticeably atypical in terms of genitalia that a specialist in sex differentiation is called in, the number comes out to about 1 in 1,500 to 1 in 2,000 births [0.07–0.05%] . But a lot more people than that are born with subtler forms of sex anatomy variations, some of which won't show up until later in life. Anne Fausto-Sterling and her co-authors stated in 2000 that "[a]dding
345-720: A country with a third 'X' sex classification, shows that 19% of people born with atypical sex characteristics selected an "X" or "other" option, while 75% of survey respondents self-described as male or female (52% as women, 23% as men), and 6% as unsure. Intersex conditions can be contrasted with transgender gender identities and the attached gender dysphoria a transgender person may feel, wherein their gender identity does not match their assigned sex. However, some people are both intersex and transgender; although intersex people by definition have variable sex characteristics that do not align with either typically male or female, this may be considered separate to an individual's assigned gender,
414-628: A direct form of self empowerment and critique such as in the ISNA 's first newsletter Hermaphrodites with Attitude . The Intersex Society of North America has stated that hermaphrodites should not be confused with intersex people and that using "hermaphrodite" to refer to intersex individuals is considered to be stigmatizing and misleading. Estimates of the number of people who are intersex vary, depending on which conditions are counted as intersex. The now-defunct Intersex Society of North America stated that: If you ask experts at medical centers how often
483-468: A group of children's hospitals in the United States found that 53% of 133 parent and adolescent participants recruited at five clinics did not like the term "intersex". Participants who were members of support groups were more likely to dislike the term. A "dsd-LIFE" study in 2020 found that around 43% of 179 participants thought the term "intersex" was bad, 20% felt neutral about the term, while 37% thought
552-581: A means of explaining being transgender; "we can collaborate a lot with the intersex movement by making it clear how wrong that approach is." An intersex character is the narrator in Jeffrey Eugenides ' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Middlesex . The memoir, Born Both: An Intersex Life ( Hachette Books , 2017), by intersex author and activist Hida Viloria , received strong praise from The New York Times Book Review , The Washington Post , Rolling Stone , People Magazine , and Psychology Today ,
621-505: A person is born with, can be distinguished from secondary sex characteristics , which develop later in life, usually during puberty . The development of both is controlled by sex hormones produced by the body after the initial fetal stage where the presence or absence of the Y-chromosome and/or the SRY gene determine development. Male primary sex characteristics are the penis, the scrotum and
690-539: A policy for trans, gender variant and intersex students in schools, aiming to promote inclusion and combat discrimination. The same Gender Identity Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act introduced new provisions allowing applicants to change their gender identity documents by a simple administrative method. Malta also permits an "X" option on identification documents since 6 September 2017. The first ID card and passport with "X" marker were issued on 23 January 2018. Legislation to enact marriage equality
759-464: A precise biological definition for the term, and making distinctions between "male pseudohermaphrodite", "female pseudohermaphrodite" and especially " true hermaphrodite ". These terms, which reflected histology (microscopic appearance) of the gonads , are no longer used. Until the mid-20th century, "hermaphrodite" was used synonymously with "intersex". Medical terminology shifted in the early 21st century, not only due to concerns about language, but also
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#1732855026866828-429: A right to bodily integrity and physical autonomy. 14. (1) It shall be unlawful for medical practitioners or other professionals to conduct any sex assignment treatment and/or surgical intervention on the sex characteristics of a minor which treatment and/or intervention can be deferred until the person to be treated can provide informed consent: Provided that such sex assignment treatment and/or surgical intervention on
897-517: A shift in language considered controversial since its introduction. Intersex people face stigmatization and discrimination from birth, or following the discovery of intersex traits at stages of development such as puberty . Intersex people may face infanticide , abandonment, and stigmatization from their families. Globally, some intersex infants and children, such as those with ambiguous outer genitalia, are surgically or hormonally altered to create more socially acceptable sex characteristics. This
966-478: A shift to understandings based on genetics . The term "hermaphrodite" is also controversial as it implies the existence of someone fully male and fully female . This is a fantasy by certain people who seek "hermaphrodite" sex partners ; in the Intersex movement, such people are called "wannafucks". As such the term "hermaphrodite" is often seen as degrading and offensive, although many intersex activists use it as
1035-687: A spectrum between men and women, with "many shades in between, including hermaphrodites, a perfect balance of male and female". Pliny the Elder (AD 23/24–79), a Roman naturalist , described "those who are born of both sexes, whom we call hermaphrodites, at one time androgyni " (from the Greek andr- , "man", and gyn- , "woman"). Augustine (354 – 430 AD), the influential Catholic theologian, wrote in The Literal Meaning of Genesis that humans were created in two sexes, despite "as happens in some births, in
1104-629: A statement recognizing "increasing general understanding and acceptance of the term 'intersex'". Australian sociological research on 272 "people born with atypical sex characteristics", published in 2016, found that 60% of respondents used the term "intersex" to self-describe their sex characteristics, including people identifying themselves as intersex, describing themselves as having an intersex variation or, in smaller numbers, having an intersex condition. Respondents also commonly used diagnostic labels and referred to their sex chromosomes, with word choices depending on audience. Research on 202 respondents by
1173-516: A television show, and television's first intersex character played by an intersex actor. Intersex peer support and advocacy organizations have existed since at least 1985, with the establishment of the Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group Australia in 1985. The Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group (UK) was established in 1988. The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) may have been one of
1242-465: A testament, depends on which sex prevails." The foundation of common law, the 17th century Institutes of the Lawes of England described how a hermaphrodite could inherit "either as male or female, according to that kind of sexe which doth prevaile". Legal cases have been described in canon law and elsewhere over the centuries. Some non-European societies have sex or gender systems that recognize more than
1311-540: A venue where the American Academy of Pediatrics was holding its annual conference. Sexual characteristics Sexual characteristics are physical traits of an organism (typically of a sexually dimorphic organism) which are indicative of or resultant from biological sexual factors. These include both primary sex characteristics , such as gonads , and secondary sex characteristics . In humans, sex organs or primary sexual characteristics, which are those
1380-718: Is "intersex". In 1917, Richard Goldschmidt created the term "intersexuality" to refer to a variety of physical sex ambiguities. However, according to The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies , it was not until Anne Fausto Sterling published her article "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough" in 1993 that the term reached popularity. According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. Intersex
1449-776: Is a combination of that of a man and that of a woman", and reputedly possessed supernatural properties. He also recounted the lives of Diophantus of Abae and Callon of Epidaurus . Ardhanarishvara , an androgynous composite form of male deity Shiva and female deity Parvati , originated in Kushan culture as far back as the first century AD. A statue depicting Ardhanarishvara is included in India's Meenakshi Temple ; this statue clearly shows both male and female bodily elements. Hippocrates ( c. 460 – c. 370 BC, Greek physician) and Galen (129 – c. 200/216 AD, Roman physician, surgeon, and philosopher) both viewed sex as
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#17328550268661518-424: Is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations. Some intersex organizations reference "intersex people" and "intersex variations or traits" while others use more medicalized language such as "people with intersex conditions", or people "with intersex conditions or DSDs (differences of sex development)" and "children born with variations of sex anatomy". In May 2016, interACT published
1587-709: Is complex, but intersex people are often added to the LGBT acronym, resulting in the acronym LGBTI (or when also including asexual people, LGBTQIA+). Emi Koyama describes how inclusion of intersex in LGBTI can fail to address intersex-specific human rights issues, including creating false impressions "that intersex people's rights are protected" by laws protecting LGBT people, and failing to acknowledge that many intersex people are not LGBT. Organisation Intersex International Australia states that some intersex individuals are homosexual, and some are heterosexual, but "LGBTI activism has fought for
1656-445: Is considered controversial, with no firm evidence of favorable outcomes. Such treatments may involve sterilization . Adults, including elite female athletes, have also been subjects of such treatment. Increasingly, these issues are considered human rights abuses , with statements from international and national human rights and ethics institutions. Intersex organizations have also issued statements about human rights violations, including
1725-423: Is driven by social factors without the consent of the minor, will be in violation of this Act. The Act was widely welcomed internationally by civil society organizations. The 2015 Gender Identity Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act protects intersex people from discrimination on grounds of "sex characteristics", as well as offering world-first protection from harmful practices. Sex characteristics
1794-442: Is in the range of 1:4,500–1:2,000 (0.02%–0.05%). Other conditions involve the development of atypical chromosomes, gonads, or hormones. Some persons may be assigned and raised as a girl or boy but then identify with another gender later in life, while most continue to identify with their assigned sex. The number of births where the baby is intersex has been reported differently depending on who reports and which definition of intersex
1863-575: Is no clear consensus definition of intersex and no clear delineation of which specific conditions qualify an individual as intersex. The World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and many medical journals classify intersex traits or conditions among disorders of sex development (DSD). A common adjective for people with disorders of sex development (DSD)
1932-522: Is to retain any meaning, the term should be restricted to those conditions in which chromosomal sex is inconsistent with phenotypic sex, or in which the phenotype is not classifiable as either male or female", stating the prevalence of intersex is about 0.018% (one in 5,500 births), about 100 times less than Fausto-Sterling's estimate. Terms used to describe intersex people are contested, and change over time and place. Intersex people were previously referred to as " hermaphrodites " or "congenital eunuchs ". In
2001-402: Is used. Anne Fausto-Sterling and her book co-authors claim the prevalence of "nondimorphic sexual development" in humans might be as high as 1.7%. However, a response published by Leonard Sax reports this figure includes conditions such as late onset congenital adrenal hyperplasia and Klinefelter syndrome , which most clinicians do not recognize as intersex; Sax states, "if the term intersex
2070-638: The Decretum Gratiani states that "Whether an hermaphrodite may witness a testament, depends on which sex prevails" ( Hermafroditus an ad testamentum adhiberi possit, qualitas sexus incalescentis ostendit ). In a court case heard at the Castellania in 1774 during the Order of St John in Malta , 17-year-old Rosa Mifsud from Luqa , later described in clinical literature as a " pseudo-hermaphrodite ", petitioned for
2139-527: The Lurie Children's Hospital , Chicago, and the AIS-DSD Support Group (now known as InterConnect Support Group) published in 2017 found that 80% of Support Group respondents "strongly liked, liked or felt neutral about intersex" as a term, while caregivers were less supportive. The hospital reported that the use of the term "disorders of sex development" may negatively affect care . Another study by
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2208-615: The Malta declaration . Human rights institutions are placing increasing scrutiny on harmful practices and issues of discrimination against intersex people. These issues have been addressed by a rapidly increasing number of international institutions including, in 2015, the Council of Europe , the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2024,
2277-543: The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted its first resolution to protect the rights of intersex people . These developments have been accompanied by International Intersex Forums and increased cooperation among civil society organizations. However, the implementation, codification, and enforcement of intersex human rights in national legal systems remains slow. Stigmatization and discrimination from birth may include infanticide, abandonment, and
2346-452: The karyotype is often summarized by the total number of chromosomes followed by the sex chromosomes present in each cell): Notes: From early history, societies have been aware of intersex people. Some of the earliest evidence is found in mythology: the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote of the mythological Hermaphroditus in the first century BC, who was "born with a physical body which
2415-429: The 19th and 20th centuries, some medical experts devised new nomenclature in an attempt to classify the characteristics that they had observed, the first attempt to create a taxonomic classification system of intersex conditions. Intersex people were categorized as either having " true hermaphroditism ", "female pseudohermaphroditism ", or "male pseudohermaphroditism". These terms are no longer used, and terms including
2484-790: The 2011 case of Christiane Völling in Germany . A second case was adjudicated in Chile in 2012, involving a child and his parents. A further successful case in Germany, taken by Michaela Raab, was reported in 2015. In the United States, the Minor Child ( M.C. v Aaronson ) lawsuit was "a medical malpractice case related to the informed consent for a surgery performed on the Crawford's adopted child (known as M.C.) at [Medical University of South Carolina] in April 2006". The case
2553-401: The 2013 Malta declaration of the third International Intersex Forum . In 2011, Christiane Völling became the first intersex person known to have successfully sued for damages in a case brought for non-consensual surgical intervention. In April 2015, Malta became the first country to outlaw non-consensual medical interventions to modify sex anatomy, including that of intersex people. There
2622-473: The Lawes of England on laws of succession stating, "Every heire is either a male, a female, or an hermaphrodite, that is both male and female. And an hermaphrodite (which is also called Androgynus ) shall be heire, either as male or female, according to that type of sexe which doth prevaile." During the Victorian era , medical authors attempted to ascertain whether or not humans could be hermaphrodites, adopting
2691-519: The ability to ejaculate when matured. Female primary sex characteristics are the vulva, vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, cervix, and the ability to give birth and menstruate when matured. Hormones that express sexual differentiation in humans include: The following table lists the typical sexual characteristics in humans (even though some of these can also appear in other animals as well): In invertebrates and plants , hermaphrodites (which have both male and female reproductive organs either at
2760-400: The case of what we call androgynes". In medieval and early modern European societies, Roman law , post-classical canon law , and later common law , referred to a person's sex as male, female or hermaphrodite, with legal rights as male or female depending on the characteristics that appeared most dominant. The 12th century Decretum Gratiani states, "Whether an hermaphrodite may witness
2829-832: The child to mature enough to be a part of the decision-making—this allows for a decision to be made with total consent. In April 2015, Malta became the first country to outlaw surgical intervention without consent. In the same year, the Council of Europe became the first institution to state that intersex people have the right not to undergo sex affirmation interventions. People born with intersex bodies are seen as different. Intersex infants, children, adolescents and adults "are often stigmatized and subjected to multiple human rights violations", including discrimination in education, healthcare, employment, sport, and public services. Researchers have documented significant disparities in mental, physical, and sexual health when comparing intersex individuals to
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2898-635: The consent of the intersex person's parents, when the person is legally too young to consent. Such interventions have been criticized by the WHO, other UN bodies such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and an increasing number of regional and national institutions due to their adverse consequences, including trauma, impact on sexual function and sensation, and violation of rights to physical and mental integrity. The UN organizations decided that infant intervention should not be allowed, in favor of waiting for
2967-616: The estimates of all known causes of nondimorphic sexual development suggests that approximately 1.7% of all live births do not conform to a Platonic ideal of absolute sex chromosome, gonadal, genital, and hormonal dimorphism"; these publications have been widely quoted by intersex activists. Of the 1.7%, 1.5% points (88% of those considered "nondimorphic sexual development" in this figure) consist of individuals with late onset congenital adrenal hyperplasia (LOCAH) which may be asymptomatic but can present after puberty and cause infertility. Leonard Sax , in response to Fausto-Sterling, estimated that
3036-826: The existence of intersex people, and demanded an end to "discrimination against intersex people and to ensure the right of bodily integrity, physical autonomy and self-determination". Silvan Agius subsequently became human rights policy coordinator at the Ministry for Social Dialogue, and Ruth Baldacchino became co-secretary general of ILGA. In 2015, Malta adopted world-first protections for intersex people, including protection from non-consensual cosmetic changes to sex characteristics in childhood, and protection from discrimination. In April 2015, Malta passed world-first legislation that protects intersex infants and children from non-consensual medical interventions . The Gender Identity Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act recognizes
3105-471: The first intersex civil society organizations to have been open to people regardless of diagnosis; it was active from 1993 to 2008. Intersex Awareness Day is an internationally observed civil awareness day designed to highlight the challenges faced by intersex people, occurring annually on 26 October. It marks the first public demonstration by intersex people, which took place in Boston on 26 October 1996, outside
3174-422: The first intersex person known to have successfully sued for damages in a case brought for non-consensual surgical intervention. In April 2015, Malta became the first country to outlaw non-consensual medical interventions to modify sex anatomy, including that of intersex people. Many civil society organizations and human rights institutions now call for an end to unnecessary "normalizing" interventions, including in
3243-420: The general population, including higher rates of bullying, stigmatization, harassment, violence, and suicidal intention, as well as substantial barriers in the workplace. Several countries have so far explicitly protected intersex people from discrimination, with landmarks including South Africa , Australia , and, most comprehensively, Malta. Claims for compensation and remedies for human rights abuses include
3312-442: The human rights of intersex people have been studied, medical interventions to modify the sex characteristics of intersex people have still taken place without the consent of the intersex person. Interventions have been described by human rights defenders as a violation of many rights, including (but not limited to) bodily integrity, non-discrimination, privacy, and experimentation. These interventions have frequently been performed with
3381-689: The intersex movement. According to InterACT , a major organization for intersex rights in the US , states that 1.7% of people have some variation of sexual development , 0.5% have atypical genitalia, and 0.05% have mixed/ambiguous genitalia. A study relying on a nationally representative survey conducted in Mexico between 2021 and 2022 obtained similar estimates: around 1.6% of individuals aged 15 to 64 reported being born with sex variations. The following summarizes prevalences of traits that medical experts consider to be intersex (where sex chromosome anomalies are involved,
3450-585: The most progressive in the world. Intersex children in Malta have world-first protections from non-consensual cosmetic medical interventions, following the passing into law of the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act in 2015. All Maltese intersex persons have protection from discrimination. Individuals who seek it can access simple administrative methods of changing sex assignment, with binary and non-binary forms of identification available. A 12th-century canon law collection known as
3519-451: The number of births with ambiguous genitals is in the range of 0.02% to 0.05%. Intersex Human Rights Australia says it maintains 1.7% as its preferred upper limit "despite its flaws", stating both that the estimate "encapsulates the entire population of people who are stigmatized—or risk stigmatization—due to innate sex characteristics", and that Sax's definitions exclude individuals who experience such stigma and who have helped to establish
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#17328550268663588-493: The prevalence of intersex was about 0.018% of the world's population, discounting several conditions included in Fausto-Sterling's estimate that included LOCAH, Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY), Turner syndrome (45,X), the chromosomal variants of 47,XYY and 47,XXX, and vaginal agenesis. Sax reasons that in these conditions chromosomal sex is consistent with phenotypic sex and phenotype is classifiable as either male or female. In
3657-503: The right of an intersex boy, "Baby A", to a birth certificate. Like all individuals, some intersex individuals may be raised as a certain sex (male or female) but then identify with another later in life, while most do not. Recognition of third sex or gender classifications occurs in several countries, however, it is controversial when it becomes assumed or coercive, as is the case with some German infants . Sociological research in Australia,
3726-429: The rights of people who fall outside of expected binary sex and gender norms." Julius Kaggwa of SIPD Uganda has written that, while the gay community "offers us a place of relative safety, it is also oblivious to our specific needs". Mauro Cabral has written that transgender people and organizations "need to stop approaching intersex issues as if they were trans issues", including use of intersex conditions and people as
3795-467: The same time or during their life cycle) are common, and in many cases, the norm. In other varieties of multicellular life (e.g. the fungi division, Basidiomycota ), sexual characteristics can be much more complex, and may involve many more than two sexes. For details on the sexual characteristics of fungi, see: Hypha and Plasmogamy . Secondary sex characteristics in non-human animals include manes of male lions , long tail feathers of male peafowl ,
3864-441: The sex characteristics of the minor shall be conducted if the minor gives informed consent through the person exercising parental authority or the tutor of the minor. (2) In exceptional circumstances treatment may be effected once agreement is reached between the interdisciplinary team and the persons exercising parental authority or tutor of the minor who is still unable to provide consent: Provided that medical intervention which
3933-514: The stigmatization of families. The birth of an intersex child was often viewed as a curse or a sign of a witch mother, especially in parts of Africa. Abandonments and infanticides have been reported in Uganda , Kenya , South Asia , and China . Infants, children and adolescents also experience "normalising" interventions on intersex persons that are medically unnecessary and the pathologisation of variations in sex characteristics. In countries where
4002-455: The term was good. Historically, the term "hermaphrodite" was used in law to refer to people whose sex was in doubt. The 12th century Decretum Gratiani states that "Whether an hermaphrodite may witness a testament, depends on which sex prevails" ("Hermafroditus an ad testamentum adhiberi possit, qualitas sexus incalescentis ostendit"). Similarly, the 17th century English jurist and judge Edward Coke (Lord Coke), wrote in his Institutes of
4071-473: The third International Intersex Forum in Valletta, where a civil society statement named the Malta declaration was signed. The event was supported by ILGA and ILGA-Europe , and brought together 34 people representing 30 organisations from multiple regions of the world. Local representatives Silvan Agius of ILGA-Europe and Ruth Baldacchino of ILGA hosted and co-organized the event. The declaration affirmed
4140-591: The tusks of male narwhals , enlarged proboscises in male elephant seals and proboscis monkeys , the bright facial and rump coloration of male mandrills , and horns in many goats and antelopes . Intersex rights in Malta – in Europe (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union (light green) – [ Legend ] Intersex rights in Malta since 2015 are among
4209-465: The two categories of male/man and female/woman. Some of these cultures, for instance the South-Asian Hijra communities, may include intersex people in a third gender category. Although—according to Morgan Holmes —early Western anthropologists categorized such cultures as "primitive", Holmes has argued that analyses of these cultures have been simplistic or romanticized and fail to take account of
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#17328550268664278-514: The way they are raised and perceived, and their internal gender identity. A 2012 clinical review paper found that between 8.5% and 20% of people with intersex variations experienced gender dysphoria. In an analysis of the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis to eliminate intersex traits, Behrmann and Ravitsky state: "Parental choice against intersex may ... conceal biases against same-sex attractedness and gender nonconformity." The relationship of intersex people and communities to LGBTQ communities
4347-599: The ways that subjects of all categories are treated. During the Victorian era , medical authors introduced the terms " true hermaphrodite " for an individual who has both ovarian and testicular tissue, "male pseudo-hermaphrodite" for a person with testicular tissue, but either female or ambiguous sexual anatomy, and "female pseudo-hermaphrodite" for a person with ovarian tissue, but either male or ambiguous sexual anatomy. Some later shifts in terminology have reflected advances in genetics, while other shifts are suggested to be due to pejorative associations. The term "intersexuality"
4416-427: The word "hermaphrodite" are considered to be misleading, stigmatizing, and scientifically specious in reference to humans. In biology, the term "hermaphrodite" is used to describe an organism that can produce both male and female gametes . Some people with intersex traits use the term "intersex", and some prefer other language. In clinical settings, the term " disorders of sex development " (DSD) has been used since 2006,
4485-485: Was also adopted, in the belief that this was necessary to ensure normal physical and psychosocial development. The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions states that legal recognition is firstly "about intersex people who have been issued a male or a female birth certificate being able to enjoy the same legal rights as other men and women". In some regions, obtaining any form of birth certification may be an issue. A Kenyan court case in 2014 established
4554-1107: Was coined by Richard Goldschmidt in 1917. The first suggestion to replace the term "hermaphrodite" with "intersex" was made by Cawadias in the 1940s. Since the rise of modern medical science, some intersex people with ambiguous external genitalia have had their genitalia surgically modified to resemble either female or male genitals. Surgeons pinpointed intersex babies as a "social emergency" when born. An 'optimal gender policy', initially developed by John Money , stated that early intervention helped avoid gender identity confusion, but this lacks evidence. Early interventions have adverse consequences for psychological and physical health. Since advances in surgery have made it possible for intersex conditions to be concealed, many people are not aware of how frequently intersex conditions arise in human beings or that they occur at all. Dialogue between what were once antagonistic groups of activists and clinicians has led to only slight changes in medical policies and how intersex patients and their families are treated in some locations. In 2011, Christiane Völling became
4623-411: Was defined as follows: "sex characteristics" refers to the chromosomal, gonadal and anatomical features of a person, which include primary characteristics such as reproductive organs and genitalia and/or in chromosomal structures and hormones; and secondary characteristics such as muscle mass, hair distribution, breasts and/or structure. Also in 2015, the Ministry for Education and Employment introduced
4692-537: Was one of School Library Journal 's 2017 Top Ten Adult Books for Teens, and was a 2018 Lambda Literary Award nominee. Television works about intersex and films about intersex are scarce. The Spanish-language film XXY won the Critics' Week grand prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the ACID/CCAS Support Award. Faking It is notable for providing both the first intersex main character in
4761-524: Was one of the first lawsuit of its type to challenge "legal, ethical, and medical issues regarding genital-normalizing surgery" in minors, and was eventually settled out of court by the Medical University of South Carolina for $ 440,000 in 2017. Access to information , medical records, peer and other counselling and support. With the rise of modern medical science in Western societies, a secrecy-based model
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