anti-intersex drugs

A medical paper published recently in Australia recommends prenatal screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia female fetuses. The paper recommends treating them prenatally with dexamethasone to prevent "behavioral masculization" including "same sex attraction and tom boy type behaviors" (there is a much higher statistical rate of both in CAH girls).

I find this absolutely disgusting, it is blatantly homophobic and transphobic. So your little girl may not be what you were expecting, so what? No parent-to-be knows what their child will be like, but they adapt and love them anyways. Parents should love and accept their children not drug out who they are, or will be. This non-consensual medical intervention is little better then genital mutilation, it is the strict enforcement of gender stereotypes at the expense of the humanity, individuality and power of choice of the intersexed individual. It also contributes to the view of intersex as a pathology.

I find the thought of prenatal testing for intersex conditions very disturbing. More prenatal intervention could lead to the abortions intersex fetuses for eugenics purposes. Most parents to be want to know the sex of their baby, but when knowing could lead them to medicate or harm the baby, perhaps it is best left a surprise.

Review of "Fool for Love" by Lisa Lees

I just finished the book Fool for Love by Lisa Lees (available at Amazon, or at lulu.com, a self publishing site). The writing style was a rather choppy, and referenced a lot of things that most intersexuals already know, however I enjoyed reading it and would highly recommend it. Its always nice to see yourself in print, which doesn't happen very often for certain minorities.

Fool for Love is a love story between two high school students, an intersex girl, Jamie, and a genderqueer butch lesbian, Carys. What the book covered very well is the emotional complexities of relationships with intersexuals. Relationships are difficult enough for "normal" people; but for intersexuals, they are an emotional minefield.

Look on any intersex forum and you will see that intersex people have a lot of apprehension and angst about relationships. Their genitals have been a source of great emotional anguish, and sharing them with another is sometimes too painful.

This is why I liked Fool for Love, it showed that in spite of all these fears, love can prevail and intersexuals can have a happily ever after.