About Intersexed People

By: Edwin Perley

It is one of the most common events in any human society. The doctor comes out and gives the good news that the baby is born and the mother and baby are doing well. Usually the first thing said is, "It's a boy!" Or "It's a girl!" But once in a while, a few times in every thousand, something else happens. The doctor does not say that. In answer to the anxious question, "Is it a boy or a girl?" there is only an awkward silence. Then he tells them that he does not know.

In our society it is necessary to be able to answer that question. It needs to be filled out on the birth certificate, and all of the family and friends are anxious to know. It is the first classification that is given to a baby, even before he or she is named. But with hermaphrodites, now preferably referred to as intersexed persons, it will take time to figure that out. It requires a careful study of the baby's genetic and physical makeup. An important part of this is the prediction of what the individual's sexual capabilities will be when he or she matures. Based on the experts' best judgments, a decision is made to recommend the proper gender for the infant. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to predict how comfortably the child will fit into the gender to which he or she has been assigned.

So, how does this kind of thing happen? What goes wrong? Normally the development of males and females is quite straightforward. If the child at conception carries the XY chromosome combination, male organs form very early. These in turn produce sex hormones that program the child to grow into a male. If the child carries the XX chromosome combination, female organs develop, and the child is likewise programmed to be a female.

Sometimes something goes wrong with the gender-determining chromosome. Not all of these malfunctions cause a person to be sexually ambiguous. For instance, in Turner's syndrome, there is only a single X chromosome, or a normal X combined with a second partially complete X. The result is a child, definitely female in appearance and personality, but who needs hormone therapy to grow properly into adulthood. . Klinefelter's Syndrome, indicated by the XXY combination, produces some more bizarre effects, such as breast development and failure of external sex organs to develop properly. Still, in this case, the individuals look reasonably masculine, and they do think of themselves as males. As with Turners syndrome, they require the administration of hormones to develop properly. Another combination, XYY, has also been reported in some men. It has been suggested that it may contribute to more aggressive behavior.

Unfortunately, some chromosome combinations can produce more confusing results. Some people with unusual sex chromosome combinations are also mosaics, containing more than one combination of them in their bodies. A child can, for instance be half XX and half XY, or any combination of X, XX, XY, or XXY. Babies with these combinations probably pose the greatest challenge to those trying to determine gender.

Malfunctions in sex hormone levels can also cause confusing effects, even if the child is one hundred per cent XX or XY. In the absence of hormones, a male will take on the appearance and temperament of a female. Insensitivity to the male hormones that are naturally present in the body can also produce this result. A female exposed to too much male hormone will take on the characteristics of a male.

The accounts that intersexed people have given about themselves on the Internet and on recent television documentaries indicate that many of them feel a sense of confusion about what they are really supposed to be. They feel programmed to be a certain gender, but for many it somehow does not fit right. One individual described herself as being neither male nor female, but something quite different. Also, there is the frustration that they were never given the chance to decide for themselves what gender they should be.

For years, the accepted treatment of intersexed infants has been to do cosmetic surgery at a very early age so that they will look "normal." The parents are urged to never tell their children how they are unusual. Medical records become very difficult to obtain, and sometimes completely disappear. Unfortunately, most do eventually do find out, often under very traumatic situations. One discovered the truth about herself after reading a magazine article about intersexed people. In another case, one discovered it while reading a biology textbook. Still another had it told to her (loudly) by a doctor giving her a military physical.

Most intersexed people live in a secret world, in which very few know their real situation. They live with the fear of being found out, of being seen by the world as freaks, and somehow, in some indefinable way, to be immoral. One individual told how she found herself with a large audience after her doctor had tipped off people in the clinic that his patient was intersexed. Another woman was forced to give up being a Sunday school teacher when the congregation found out her secret. It is very unfair of our society to have this kind of attitude toward intersexed people. This was not their choice.

My novel, 'The New Girl,' portrays a situation that is highly unlikely to occur in real life. But the extreme nature of the situation presented tells a lot about the world that intersexed people occupy, their attitudes, and how "normal" people react to them. It is also meant as a commentary on differences between the two genders.

You can obtain additional information about intersexed people and associated social and legal issues from the following sites.

Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) http://www.isna.org/

United Kingdom Intersex Association (UKIA) http://www.ukia.co.uk/

Intersex Support Group International (ISGI) http://www.isgi.org/

There are quite a number of good sites besides these. I suggest you use the Search option at Yahoo.com.

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