A court in Australia has approved the request for surgery of a five-year-old child who is genetically male when born but who will grow up as female after the surgery. Family Court documents show that the child identified only as Carla, had no female reproductive organs but her parents requested the court to allow her to undergo an irreversible surgery that will remove her male gonads.
BBC said her parents decided to let her have surgery because she exhibited behavior that is stereotypically female such as her preference for everything female including clothes, toys and even games. Experts who testified in court said while there is no certainty as to the child's fertility in the future, surgery would, however, remove the risks of tumors developing in the future.
The Guardian said an intersex child is born with an anatomy that is both male and female, which is usually referred to in the medical world as intersex traits or disorders of sexual development (DSD). While DSD is deemed by many as rare, research shows that intersex traits can be found in up to 1.7% of the world population, which is almost roughly the same as the percentage of people whose hair is red.
DSD Families, a charity organization in Britain, said that around 130 newborns in the country every year have to undergo investigation before assignment of birth. Daily Mail said intersex children used to be known as hermaphrodites who grow up with both male and female genitals.
In this case, Carla's sex would be decided for her by her parents based on what they saw was her preference. Morgan Carpenter, an intersex activist, said while it is understandable for the doctors or parents to assign a gender to the child, it is another matter when they want to enforce it through surgery as it is irreversible.
"The child will need to decide their identity for themselves, when they are older, and that's difficult when surgery has been enforced on them as children," Morgan said. Meanwhile, have you ever heard about intersex children? Please share your thoughts below.
