Thursday, July 24, 2014

5 Reasons why Genital Surgery on Intersex Infants is Wrong

Today I am creating a buffer post between B and C.  I will continue blogging my way through the alphabet next week.  This is a list (who doesn’t love lists) of the top 5 reasons why genital surgeries on non-consenting intersex babies is wrong.  This may seem somewhat redundant, but people tend to pay attention when things in list form.

5.  It is done for the parents, not the child.  The baby cannot express a gender preference or a desire for genital surgery.  The parents discomfort is given priority over the child’s future identity and sexuality.
   
4.  It is not needed.  There is no reason to operate on an infant, ambiguous genitals are not a medical emergency.  If as an adult they decided this is what they want, fine, but there is no need to force it on babies.

3.  It forces us into a role we may not accept.  There is no way to tell how an intersex baby is going to identify.  If they grow up and identify opposite of the way the surgery made them, you will have created a whole new set of problems. 

2.  It robs us of sexual sensation.  We should have the right to sexual pleasure.  Surgery permanently robs us of this.


1.  We have the right to decide what happens to our bodies.  Unless it’s a matter of life and death, any surgeries that were non-consensual and purely cosmetic are ethically questionable at best.  What happens to our bodies is our choice not our parents or doctors.  

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