Intersexual Genital Mutilation

In North America & Europe

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Summary:

This is an invasive procedure that is usually performed on "inter-sex" newborns for what some believe to be medical reasons. These are newborns whose genitals deviate significantly from conventional male or female design.

Similar operations are traditionally performed on non-intersex girls later in life in some African, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern countries Aboriginal, Christian and Muslim families who have emigrated to the US or Canada also practice it.

Genital alterations of infants:

Western society has traditionally oppressed sexual minorities. Every child is expected to be conceived with XX or XY chromosomes, grow up to be either a man or a woman, to have internal and external sexual organs which are clearly male or female, and to be sexually attracted to members of the "opposite" sex when they mature. For reasons of ignorance, religious teaching and fear, we have tended to force people into the traditional heterosexual male or female role. But, as in so many sexually related topics, a two-mode model is insufficient. Consider:

Anne Fausto-Sterling attempted to categorize intersexuality in a 1993 article. ₂ She introduced three sexes in addition to male and female:

These categories have not been well received by most intersexed people.

She has written of her vision of a more accepting future:

"At birth, instead of hearing the inevitable pronouncement of "boy" or "girl" new parents might excitedly await a much expanded range of possibilities. Herms, ferms, and merms, being the rarer birth events might come to be seen as especially blessed or lucky, having as they do the best of all possible worlds, sexually speaking. Herms, merms and ferms might become the most desirable of all possible mates able as they are to pleasure their partners in a variety of ways. Furthermore, the existence of three additional sexes would open up possibilities for the rest of us. It would become difficult to maintain a clear conceptualization of homosexuality, for example, and perhaps its current contentious status would fade from view. If we envision the world in fives instead of twos, it would also be more difficult to hold onto rigid constructions of male and female sex roles. ...Should we have only two sexes?--my answer would be a resounding no."

Most physicians have recommended in the past that the ambiguous external genitals of intersex infants be carved up so that the child will grow up appearing to be a "normal" male or female. Some the infant have an enlarged or protruding clitoris; others will be born with a "micropenis". In about 90% of cases, intersex infants undergo genital surgery to make them appear as a "normal" female. One surgeon explained: "You can make a hole, but you can't build a pole." ₃ Surgery involves removal and remolding genital structures, and may involve the addition of parts taken from elsewhere on the body. Physicians now attempt to preserve structures that have concentrations of nerves, so that sexual feeling will remain. But they cannot guarantee that their patients will ever be able to have orgasms in later life. Such care was not always done in the past.

These operations are usually performed shortly after birth, at the age of 6 weeks to 15 months. ₆ They are sometimes done later, during childhood or teen years. There is increasing opposition to these operations. Several activist and support groups by and for intersexuals have been formed. _1,4,5 They generally oppose genital surgery on intersexual people, particularly when it is done at an age where the individual cannot make an informed choice. Nathalie Angier ₆ has written:

"The debate raises difficult questions about who has the right to decide what ranks as esthetically acceptable genitalia, whose interests are being served by surgical intervention and whether one's sexual identity is so entwined with the appearance of one's genitals that it is worth subjecting infants to a major operation to assure visual concordance between one and the other."

The Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act does permit genital surgery if it is "necessary to the health of the person on whom it is performed." Activists are now trying to modify the law, so that it cannot be performed without the informed consent of the individual. Cheryl Chase, founder of the Intersex Society of North America commented: ₁

"Africans have their cultural reasons for trimming girls' clitorises, and we have our cultural reasons for trimming girls' clitorises. It's a lot easier to see what's irrational in another culture than it is to see it in our own."

With regard to the proposed change in the law, she commented: "

"That would break the pediatricians' argument that they do this to prevent psychological and mental trauma for the child...We don't expect this to be finished up in six months, but we're not going to go away, and we have more passion than they do."

Some pediatricians defend the practice of infant genital surgery. Dr. Anthony A. Caldamone, head of pediatric urology at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, RI said:

"I don't think it's an option for nothing to be done. I don't think parents can be told, this is a normal girl, and then have to be faced with what looks like an enlarged clitoris, or a penis, every time they change the diaper. We try to normalize the genitals to the gender to reduce psychosocial and functional problems later in life."

Dr. Justine M. Schober, a pediatric urologist at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa. has said:

"The truth is, genital surgery is being done, but we don't know what the outcome of it is, sexually or otherwise. We don't have any long-term studies."

David Thomas, a pediatric urologist at St. James's University Hospital and Infirmary in Leeds, UK conducted a scouting study. It involved only about a dozen intersexual individuals aged 11 to 15 who had been subjected to genital surgery. Results were not encouraging. ₇ Dr. Thomas reports: "

"Every girl required some additional vaginal surgery...The results are indifferent and frankly disappointing."

Estimates on the number of intersexuals in North America range from 1 in 50 to 1 in 1000. Intersexuality is sometimes caused by genetics, sometimes by rare hormonal levels during pregnancy, and sometimes by unknown causes.

Religious Attacks on Intersexuals:

One would hope that the unique challenges faced by intersexual individuals could be handled through an interaction of intersexuals, their families, physicians and other health professionals. Unfortunately, some conservative Christians have introduced religious objections to intersexuality, based on what they believe are literal interpretations of scripture. Some examples are listed below, along with responses from some liberal Christians and intersexed persons:

Chuck Colson has written a particularly insensitive attack on intersexuals. He states (in part):

"The Bible teaches that the Fall into sin affected biology itself - that nature is now marred and distorted from its original perfection. This truth gives us a basis for fighting evil, for working to alleviate disease and deformity - including helping those unfortunate children born with genital deformities."

"...for the Christian, nature is not our basis for determining normality. Scripture tells us how God created us before the Fall, and how he intended us to live: as males and females, reflecting His own image. We take our standards and identity from His revelation of our original nature." ₉

One cause of this attack on the reality of intersexuality is the desire by conservative Christians to delay as long as possible the recognition of gay and lesbian marriages. One method of continuing special rights for heterosexuals is the US Federal Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA has two main objectives:

If it is shown that there are more than 2 genders, then DOMA could be ruled unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court has already declared a Colorado amendment to be unconstitutional because it singled out one group (homosexuals) for legalized discrimination. DOMA could be interpreted as singling out two groups (homosexuals and intersexuals) for such discrimination.

Thus, it is important for groups that are opposing same-sex marriage to maintain the fiction that there are only two genders, that intersexual people do not exist.

It would be unfortunate if the hatred expressed against homosexuality by many conservative Christians spreads and becomes widely directed against intersexuals.

References:

1. The Intersex Society of North America maintains a home page at: http://www.isna.org/ They have a FAQ, which describes their newsletter and other materials on intersexuality.
2. Anne Fausto-Sterling, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not enough", The Sciences, 1993-MAR/APR, 1993:20-24. Responses were printed in the JUL/AUG issue. The article was reprinted on the New York Times Op-ed page on 1993-MAR-12.
3. Melissa Hendricks, "Is it a Boy or a Girl?", Johns Hopkins Magazine, 1993-NOV-10 to 16.
4. Intersex Voices is a Web site supporting intersexual persons and their families. See: http://www.qis.net/~triea/inter.html (Apparently offline)
5. Genital Mutilation Survivors' Support Network (GMSSN) has a German and English web site at: http://www.sonic.net/~boedeker/gmssn/index.htm [Apparently a broken link]
6. Nathalie Angier, New Debate Over Surgery on Genitals, New York Times, New York NY, 1997-MAY-13
7. Anne Scheck, "Early Vaginal Reconstruction for All Intersex Girls?," Urology Times of Canada, 1997-APR. Available at: http://www.doctoc.com/
8. Sally Gross, "Intersexuality and Scripture" at: http://www.qis.net/ (Apparently offline)
9. Charles Colson, "Blurred biology" is a Fundamentalist Christian attack on intersexuality. See: http://www.goodnewsmag.com/ Apparently offline
10. Anne Fausto-Sterling, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are not enough", The Sciences, 1993-MAR/APR, 1993:20-24. Responses were printed in the JUL/AUG issue. The article was reprinted on the New York Times Op-ed page on 1993-MAR-12.
11. Cheryl Chase, "Hermaphrodites with Attitude: Mapping the Emergence of Intersex Political Activism," GLQ: Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies 4 (2):189-211 (1998)
12. A.D. Dreger, "Ethical Issues in the Medical Treatment of Intersexuality and 'Ambiguous Sex,'" Hastings Center Report. (1998-MAY/JUN)
13. Suzanne Kessler,  "Lessons from the Intersexed," Rutgers University Press, (1998-AUG)

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Copyright © 1998 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally published: 1998-MAR-16
Last updated on 2007-MAY-31
Author: Bruce A Robinson