Follow Science in Best Interest of Child

Intersex is an umbrella term for certain medical conditions and some consider themselves male, some female and some want a “third gender”. A person has every right to feel what they do as long as it is not abusing and/or hurting anyone else.

A spouse of intersex has experienced the very same events as the intersex person and if there is trauma for intersex person, is there any trauma for spouse who experienced the same event with secrecy, lies, misinformation?

The beauty of following science is it relies on facts – something both the medical and legal worlds are based on. While experiencing the intersex surgery and the after-effects of the same and the medical mistreatment, common sense tells you it’s wrong and unnecessary. But how dare a non-medical youngster challenge a triple MD and a decades old malpractice? Finally in 2013, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture proved the gut feeling by calling for a STOP to such intersex surgeries. Maybe innocent IVF children can have an opportunity to grow up together had this come a decade ago.

A medical record is the language of communication between doctors and should always be based on science and facts. If a doctor does intersex surgery and claims “removal of ovaries” when in fact it was “removal of testes”, it sets of an inadvertent chain reaction. First you just taught the patient and family to lie and the system will institutionally support the lies. Next when the patient goes to fertility specialist to have a child, the medical decision is based on erroneous facts. Next when the patient goes to a lactation consultant to breastfeed an infant, the subject matter expert gives medical advise based on erroneous facts. Next when the patient goes to a pediatrician to breastfeed an infant, the doctor gives medical advise again based on erroneous facts and placing an innocent child, her patient, at risk and is abused. More importantly, the infant gets no milk and is abused despite access to best subject matter experts.

There is no issue in intersex people feeling male or female or third gender. But instead of forcing that philosophy on innocent children in silence, first get the medical literature changed and also get the laws changed to allow legal marriage, immigration and fertility rights for infertile people. Why abuse innocent children for all this? Intersex is rare. Caster Semenaya was given an Olympic medal first in the women category, then rescinded, then reinstated as a woman. This affects her physically. The message affects several other intersex people globally. However is it different when  medical decisions are taken similarly that affects both the patient AND others physically including innocent children? Do others have rights too? Or do they deserve to be abused simply because they were forced into silence?

Follow the Science :
1) Not all intersex people have the surgery done. Of those intersex people who have surgery done, most have it performed either as a child or in puberty. Very trace amounts are done after 21. Almost none are done during a relationship or marriage. Is there a scientific study to understand the effects of intersex surgery during marriage?

2) Intersex people who are genetically male may be able to breastfeed. Adoptive mothers who are genetically female have been able to breastfeed. However, not all have had success with lactation due to different reasons. Biological mothers who also take hormones to breastfeed are not always successful. It’s traumatic but a scientific fact. Is it an apples and apples comparison from a scientific standpoint? Is there a scientific study on breastfeeding by intersex genetic males or are we using innocent infants as guinea pigs and abusing them? Would you give your infant for this study?

3) An intersex person who has the surgery done needs to go on hormonal therapy and take estrogens. Lactation comes from a separate hormone, prolactin. Is there a scientific study on the effects of taking both hormones simultaneously? Are they competing? More importantly, if the medical records are fraud and subject matter experts are also frauded as a result, is the innocent infant at risk? Is the child being abused and forced to breastfeed and incessantly cry when there is NO milk?

People who want to live honestly and follow the laws have a problem including honest intersex people. Like asking the court to allow male to female surgery or have it covered by insurance. Liars, criminals who break laws do not have this problem. For them secrecy, lies, cheating, fraud worked and the system helped and they didn’t get abused, others are being abused including innocent children, where is the problem?