A Study of Children Treated for Intersex Conditions shows Current Treatment Paradigm is Not Working.
New
intersex study fuels debate
Tuesday, 17 September 2002
Anna Salleh - ABC Science Online
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s675847.htm
A long-term study of intersex
adults, who were born with genitalia that made it difficult to know if they were
a boy or a girl, has found that most are content with the gender they were
assigned. However, controversy in
the area remains.
The study, by Calude J. Migeon
of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine www.hopkinsmedicine.org/medicalschool/
and colleagues, is published in the journal Pediatrics www.pediatrics.org.
The researchers interviewed 39
people who had been seen at Hopkins as infants or children. The participants were all born genetically male (XY) but with
genitalia which were either female, not clearly male (a very small penis), or
ambiguous. Twenty-one had been
raised as men, and 18 as women.
Over three-quarters of study
participants were reported to be satisfied with their assigned sex of rearing,
their body image and sexual functioning.
According to consultant
paediatric and adolescent gynaecologist, Dr Sonia Grover of the Royal Children's
Hospital www.rch.unimelb.edu.au and
the Centre for Adolescent Health in Melbourne, the new study is the first of its
kind.
It addresses some of the
concerns raised by intersex advocacy groups, who argue that the medical
profession should not surgically assign gender at such a young age.
"I think it's a
reassuring study because in the last few years those of us involved in this area
have had obvious concerns about whether we're doing the right thing," she
said.
Previous studies were based
predominantly on groups of people who were unhappy with their experience, she
explained.
"This outcome suggests
the basis the medical profession has been using to make decisions may be
appropriate," she said. "But the study still has limitations."
"If three-quarters of
people are happy with their assigned gender, why are one quarter unhappy?"
she asked.
"I would like to know a
bit more about what went wrong for the ones who are unhappy."
About one in 8000 children
born in Australia each year have ambiguous genitalia. All of them undergo
surgery within a few months of birth to assign them to a male or female gender.
Tony
Briffa of the Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group Australia http://www.vicnet.net.au/~aissg
welcomed the new US research, but said a "failure rate of 25 per cent"
was "not acceptable".
"We
support the child's right to physical integrity and are deeply concerned for
those children who are not happy with the gender they were assigned -
particularly if they have undergone irreversible medical intervention," he
said.
He said
that children should be informed in stages about their condition, and give their
consent to any medical intervention when they are old enough to make these
decisions for themselves.
"Doctors
need to realise that the genitals of children with intersex conditions are never
a medical problem," said Mr. Briffa.
Dr Grover said one reason for
the dissatisfaction shown in the Johns Hopkins study could be that medical
intervention for intersex conditions is ongoing.
Apart from the initial
surgery, such as removal of a penis or construction of a vagina, interventions
can involve repeated surgery and hormone treatments.
with
questions or comments about this web site.