[FROM THE ARCHIVES] Intersex Issues
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ญ.
Experts estimate that anything from one in 60 to one in 2000 babies is born intersex, with varying male and female characteristics, from genitalia to hormones, chromosomes to reproductive organs. When babies donโt fit the boxes of โfemaleโ and โmaleโ, doctors do surgeries so that the bodies conform to the traditional ideas of gender. Intersex is a naturally occurring variation, not a disease. But the way doctors and parents respond to these babies often end up causing life-long trauma and illness. In South Africa, the go-to solution is still largely gender corrective surgery. Too young to give consent, many babies grow up never knowing the truth about their identity. Now advocating against this practice as genital mutilation, victims speak out to help change policy and practice. Carte Blanche speaks to the adult survivors of gender corrective surgeries who are calling on the government to put a stop to a harmful practice.