“The line between male and female turns out to be rather fine. Although we imagine our genders as firm and fixed, in fact they are as malleable as a sand castle”
Many Intersex people are born with chromosomal abnormalities or ambiguous genitalia. The figure 1:2000 represent those where assignment of sex at birth is difficult at best. Those with unusual genitalia are often subject to surgical “normalization” procedures from infancy to adolescence, which usually results in loss of sexual response in adulthood. The Intersex Society of North America has labeled this practice Infant Genital Mutilation. Some intersexed infants have been sexually reassigned - without their consent – and later in life develop gender identity issues strikingly similar to those of transsexual people. Some estimates put the number of intersex individuals at 1:100 with the number of conditions and syndromes numbering in the hundreds. Intersex individuals have many issues that parallel others in the LBGTI community.
We are all here today because we share in or understand the uniqueness and diversity of gender more than the majority. The expectations from this seminar are that you leave empower with the information allowing you to tell others about and help us “Stop the Harm”! Additionally once you have a basic understanding about intersexuality we will look at the parallels that the intersexed community share with others in the LBGT communities and society as a whole.
Let us begin with a little background about the intersex.
Please consider that gender is a complex construct consisting not only of the "chromosomes at birth, . . . which are only one factor in determining an individual's sex later in life but there are an additional seven criteria to be considered: gonadal sex (testes or ovaries), internal morphologic sex (prostate or uterus), external morphologic sex (genitalia), hormonal sex (androgens or estrogens), phenotypic sex (secondary sexual features like chest hair), assigned sex and gender of rearing, and sexual identity" /orientation included by some.
Generic definitions for the intersexed or hermaphrodites, are individuals who have both ovarian and testicular tissue in their bodies; their external genitalia can be a mixture of both female and male structures. This can manifest itself in many ways. Having both complete sets of genitalia is very rare being fewer than five percent of those that are intersexual.
Pseudohermaphrodites are individuals whose structures may match their chromosomal sex, but whose internal and external reproductive anatomy has a mixture of female and male structures or structures that are incomplete.
While these are the textbook definitions, I will add the following few as just some causes of intersexuality:
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS)
Gonadal Dysgenesis
5 -Reductase Deficiency
Testosterone Biosynthetic Defects
Micropenis
Timing Defect
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)
Klinefelter Syndrome 47XXY
Turner Syndrome
46,XO/46,XY Mosaicism
Combine these with what we have already discussed are the attributes that make up an individuals gender and you begin to see the complexity of gender makeup.
Thanks to the study of intersexuality, we have, long ago, realized that humanity comes in more than two mutually exclusive genders.
The instance of gender abnormalities has been estimated to be between one in every 500 to 4500 (1 in 2000 is cited most often). If accurate, this means that more babies are born intersexed than those born with cystic fibrosis, the incidence of which is one in 2,500.
Consider that even the intersexed often do not know the extent of their abnormalities because of misinformation or lack thereof. The following is from an individual, Jim, born in 1957. His parents started to tentatively raise him as a girl, but he identified as a boy, looked like a boy, so they raised him as he identified.
No medical workup was done until puberty, at the age of 14, when he was the interest of study at a gender clinic but not treated well.
"They tried to force genital surgery (mutilation) on me with the claim that I could not function in life as I was. Giving up on the gender clinic, a local endocrinologist determined that there was no testicular material and begun testosterone treatment."
Traumatized by the ordeal of the gender clinic, Jim did not seek any serious medical evaluation for intersexuality until October 2001 when a complete workup was done. Here, Jim reveals the outcome of some of these tests:
"I've got tiny, underdeveloped ovaries that produce estrogen only. I don't cycle in any way, don't ovulate, never menstruated and didn't even know I had a vagina because the opening used to be so tiny (used to be - I had that fixed!). I take complete testosterone replacement and you'd never know I had a "normal for female" estrogen level, with a "normal for male" progesterone level. My secondary sex characteristics are purely male. My specialist ordered a complete hormone profile on me last October, among a whole lot of other tests that finally uncovered my physical makeup. This had never been done before. In any event, my point is that it all gets pretty complex! Jim"
After getting help from competent caregivers Jim states:
"I don't look at myself as having an abnormality. I've gone from a miserable self-image of believing I was a man, a malformed male, to discovering that I am a man who is a perfectly formed intersexual variation of a female."
Before we move on Jim had another concern:
"All my documentation says "male" and has a male name. I have never transitioned from one gender to another, so I don't have the kinds of things a transsexual would have in order to meet the requirements necessary to change the gender on a birth certificate. BUT, I have a birth certificate that says female on it. This makes it impossible for me to get a passport!" This may sound familiar to some in the LBGT community.
I contend that Jim, an intersexual, is no different than a female to male transsexual that does not have complete bottom surgery (phalloplasty), which is often extremely costly and the results less than satisfactory.
Jim concluded in saying: "Intersexuality isn't just a physical phenomenon - it affects every aspect of your being - including how others perceive you and how you are/aren't enculturated into a gender. My parents didn't "cause" my intersexuality but they greatly influenced how I thought and felt about myself. They couldn't dictate a gender to me, they began to raise me as a girl but I identified as a boy so strongly that they switched in toddler-hood. If they had tried to force me to assume a female identity my life experience would have been far more complicated and conflicted. My psychologist once asked me if I thought my life would have been better if I could have been raised as intersexed instead of as "almost a male". It sure would have been different! What is my nature? I'm pretty sure it is an integration of "male" and "female". My nurture was to be a man only because it fit me better than woman. It's not just about what my body is, it's about how my experiences, my perceptions, my development, my psyche, my personality are shaped by my being intersexed and vice versa!"
One particular point that strikes me is that for the intersexed, the biology is painfully obvious and is what provokes surgical reconstruction or mutilation in the first place the fact that there are two major, unwarranted and unsubstantiated claims by doctors involved in IGM.
1) they believe they can decide which gender to assign someone, and
2) that there are only two choices - male and female
There is a great need for most MDs involved in dealing with the neonates to better understand the developmental biology, particularly post John Money. One can more easily expect that when they do understand that a certain IS child will develop naturally as a male and another as a female, that they should be directed in that particular direction. It then follows that when the situation is truly indeterminate, the only reasonable thing to do is wait.
No doubt these professionals are seriously impacted by the societies in which they live, but these days most doctors act in accord with biology rather than ideology. Not always, and not everyone, but with today's legal malpractice system it is much rarer to act out in pursuit of politics.
When it comes to the transsexual intersexed the main problem is primary recognition that we are real people with a birth defect, not sinful perverts or subversive infiltrators. Biology is a lot less threatening to most people in addition to being more fundamentally critical to who we are. Of course, as I've said, all the factors mentioned impact all of us in a myriad of different ways.
It seems that one becomes a transsexual intersexed by virtue of their age. If an individual chooses after the age of 18 to have surgery it is classified as elective and therefore falls under the Standards Of Care requirements. This seems to be applied legally as well as medically. While the affidavit from the surgeon may state ‘corrective surgery’ the path to surgery, if that is ones choice, seems to be the same for all.
I think that ultimately it is critical that TS/IS be viewed as fundamentally biological, a birth defect, if you will and while the facts are there to support this society however is not ready for this change. I believe that will pave the way for generalized acceptance, just as scientific understanding in general has led to civil rights for blacks, women, and gays. Breaking down old myths and religious beliefs often leads to moral breakthroughs, and once people can view the other as just a variant, rather than evil, understanding can result. In my mind science has been the greatest engine for breaking old taboos, and while nothing is simple and easy, I don't believe we can make progress without it.
I don't regard elective SRS or GCS as surgical barbarism when educated choices are made. I certainly don't subscribe to the view that SRS makes anyone male or female. I have great respect for those who chose (or because of circumstances are forced) to live in the physiological state in which they arrived in this world. I also acknowledge the certainty of those who are truly two-spirit persons and I guess I envy them for the inner peace they enjoy.
The controversy revolves around issues of gender reassignment. Gender assignment by the physician and family may not correlate with gender preference by the patient in adulthood. Remember that the most important sex organ is the brain, which may undergo hormonal imprinting in utero. This does not always correspond with the physiology of the individual. While there are circumstances where neonates will require surgery we believe that it should be limited to only that which is required for health reasons. In the majority of cases the neonate’s genital surgery is performed purely for cosmetic reasons and today, everyday, as many of five of these unconsented surgeries are taking place. This is where we draw the line and ask you to help us “Stop The Harm”. We are not advocating elimination of all surgery just surgery performed on children who will never know how sensate they could have been. These children must be given the opportunity to mature and understand the ramifications of their decision. While parents and physicians hope to make the correct choice it is not their choice to make.
Personally, I know I was born a woman, albeit with biological variances, which were a bit, confusing for everyone. This brought me to a position where I lived part of my life as a male to meet the social and cultural expectations placed on me. In this I have no regrets, I do not play "what if" for it cannot be. It is my past that has helped make you and I that; which we are. I will add that during the time of my birth little was spoken of intersexuality and how deviations in hormones impacts our bodies. Today we still remain invisible to most of society. We all now know how diethylstilbestrol (DES) and other ‘wonder drugs’ have changed nature and humanity. ‘An important area of endocrine research is the effect of the lower levels of these substances (DES and others) that occur in our daily life, especially in children and the elderly. Exposure to estrogen during the sexual development has been associated with feminization of the male reproductive system in animals, and estrogens contained in plants can decrease reproduction in the wild and domestic animals that eat them.’ More than one study has been conducted of environmental impacts of DES and other toxins into our environment. Two studies done looking at Chinook salmon in the Columbia River. The studies found that 84%, in one study, higher in the other, of the fish were discovered to have a high incidence of phenotypic sex reversal in wild, female salmon with a male genotype. If this happens in nature we seem to have a logical of definitive cause and understanding for it . . . however . . . . if it happens in humanity it is a mental issue and taboo.
As an addendum here salmon sampled from local fish hatcheries showed none of these characteristics.
I was recently ask by a doctor at the VA what is intersexuality? We indeed have a long way to go in education.
I share much with my transsexual brother and sisters. One thing is that I had the choice to seek surgery in my time. For me it was corrective surgery and I have no doubt that in the future surgery for transsexuals, if warranted will follow similarly. I transitioned similar as they did. Many intersexed including myself have had difficulty in legal, health and other issues that parallel those of the transsexual community. It is my belief that the transsexual community is stigmatized because of societies lack of understanding on these issues.
Let us take a minute and see how one court views transsexuality and intersexuality.
Family Court of Australia
In Sydney, the judgment of the Honorable Justice Chrisholm
His Honour made a number of important findings of fact and of principle such as:
"There may be circumstances in which a person who at birth had gonads, chromosomes and genitals of one sex, may nevertheless be of the other sex at the date of his or her marriage . . . "
"The decision of Corbett does not represent Australian law" "That brain development is (at least) an important determinant of a person's sense of being a man or a woman, that the characteristics of transsexuals are as much "biological" as those of people thought of as inter-sex . . ." "Thus, transsexualism is found to be properly included within the intersex continuum."
Some do not see the finding of justice Chrisholm as those above and wish to maintain distance between the intersexual and transsexual individuals.
Some of you may know Dr. Milton Diamond of The Pacific Center for Sex and Society at the University of Hawaii. I have corresponded with Dr. Diamond and asked the question, where does one draw the line or can one draw a line between intersexuality and transsexuality? As expected the question alone is to complex for a quick answer and has noted that there was a book and a paper just released that discusses this matter.
Lets discuss some of the issues we face.
Legal is likely the largest. Here you have birth records; passports; drivers license; credit cards or credit companies; educational records; health records; veteran records and the list goes on. I can tell you that the IS and TS community share many of the same concerns. As an example some states will not change birth records. Like my birth state of Florida (which just changed their policy) it took years of education, dialog and documentation for them to change. Other areas like the drivers license, social security was easier but even with the appropriate documentation there are inappropriate questions asked out of ignorance.
Incarceration concerns or other run-ins with the law or security:
Today we are all concerned for the safety of ourselves and others. While much of the intersexed population have adopted one of the bi-polar gender identities, much like many transsexuals it may not always coincide with their documents. In this, some intersexed have a head start over their TS brothers and sisters. That said, there are increasing concerns about identification in one gender or the other. Consider the IS individual who presents closer to male than female going through airport security and being ask to open their shirt for a male security person. Then a conversation between a male and female security person right in front of this individual occurred in an attempt to identify their gender. Not once did they think to stop and ask the individual how she identified or whom she would like to have check her. While we should be concerned about our safety and the safety of others, that does not mean it has to be at the expense of our dignity. If something such as this occurs to you, I encourage informing the authorities, in writing and in a tactful fashion. Also ask the individual who you would like to check you to do so, or state that you will have another female/male check you. If F-M and packing, consider wisely these choices or be ready to whip it out and toss it on the table for them.
Health issues are another concern:
To begin; let me say that most neonates
that are born intersexual do not require
surgery. This IGM as I have indicated
before is to make their young bodies fit
into the stereotypical perception. As we
have seen, it is not normal but has been
understood as customary. Once surgery has been performed there is no turning
back, you cannot reclaim something that has been taken or expect that something that has been cut into to retain the same sensitivity as before.
Depending on the particular blessing, intersexuals can have a number of health issues. . . or none. Some may find that medication is necessary to ensure that electrolyte levels in the body remain correct; others are just blessed with an enlarged clitoris or a micro penis. What ever their blessing they may or may not have caregivers that understand their uniqueness and in this way the IS and TS communities are similar. While surgery, if chosen can alter some things, the physician must be aware of your medical history in order to provide complete treatment. Things like PSA testing for M-F should be standard even though they may cause more than a glance from the nurse doing the test. Intersexuals and transsexuals tend to shy from medical personnel because of the lack of understanding.
Family issues:
Many of us have felt that we have impacted the family in many ways. Parents of those that are intersexual or transsexual often feel that they are to blame, and that is simply not the case. Even in the case of DES children the parents were doing what they knew to be right at the time and given the advice they were provided by the caregivers.
Those who have changed names may have issues with the family, especially in crossing the gender line. Once across the gender line things become more complex. If there is a marriage and family then the spouse and any children are impacted. In some cases these work out fine. Some make the family was part of the decision making process from day one. Other families fall apart; we all have heard the stories and some of us know one or more who have lost much. Also consider what the current legislation will do to those of us that are intersexed, the current or potential future relationships. With estimates as high as 12 million of those that are classified as intersexed in the US how will this impact us? What will become of existing marriages that do not fit the criteria of man and woman? While in many ways this may bring education of intersex issues to the forefront this in and of itself is a two edged sword with education on the one side and the possibility of further alienation through categorization of the intersexed. While this does differ from the issue of same sex marriages, depending on how man and woman are defined will ultimately impact us as well.
Harassment (work or elsewhere) is another concern:
Consider the intersexual whose birth certificate says: "indeterminate" under gender. His boss became aware of his being intersexed and started to sexually harass him shamelessly and in front of lots of witnesses over a long period of time. When he tried to take legal action against the harassment he was told that he couldn't make a claim of sexual harassment because he didn't have a sex! He was told that he didn't fall inside the legal definitions or male/female so the harassment laws didn't cover him. In the end he accepted a settlement and transfer and the case was dropped.
Faith:
One cannot put aside understanding how your faith is impacted. I use the term faith rather than religion because to many of the religious today have adopted society's pecking order in the houses of worship to the point that the house of worship has become a clubhouse for christians instead of a hospital for sinners. While I am indeed a Christian I will say that to follow the teachings of Christ is to follow the commandments of the new covenant, which were to know the Creator and love one another. Many have missed that focus and have gone on in search of spiritual peace because of the 'so-called' christians.
No matter your beliefs I am sure most of you have thought about this side of things at one point or another. We need to look to that faith and deep within ourselves for many of the answers we seek. Therapists, psychiatrists and doctors may offer help but in the end it is indeed a personal journey.
Marriage:
In the news today and has an impact no matter which side of the equation you are on. The problem is that for the most part, fundamentalist activists who are proponents of same-sex marriage do not want the proven issues of IS brought up in their midst. The reasoning is if the intersex are recognized as the manner in which the dichotomy of gender is broken down, they lose their battle. Additionally I would add that how many others out there would potentially fit the classification of intersex and then deal with the “Stigma and Shame” but then again from my perspective it is about time that they walk in my shoes! One would think that conditions and syndromes that are categorized as intersexed must be accepted on medical proof alone. Consider that ignoring the intersexed and their issues may be a spin off of this very issue, same-sex marriage, so predominant in society today. To endear people to any cause, it must be brought down to their base level. What "If" they were born this way or that way, and were told they themselves and any resulting relationships were not supported by law.
The main objectives of marriage is A. to share your lifetime relationship with someone and B. to bring forth a family unit even if by adoption if they choose. If intersex individuals are lawfully denied the ability to choose even one or none of those options, then a segment of society is truly noted as being what one article put it, "Outsiders". Sound familiar? Christ didn't preach that. Just the opposite.
This educational battle can't be fought on one unique front. It's fought on grounds of diversion and smoke screens. It's high time the discriminatory system be brought down by similar methods. It worked in the sixties. It can work now. But the only way it can, is if the intersex community is placed on the shoulders of the LGBT, not tagging along behind the rest or hidden under the bigger shoulders of the LGBT. If gender identity is proven a human right, then marriage can be brought under that same human rights umbrella.
Will LGBT allow enough bargaining power to the intersex cause? Probably not. For the most part, they have their own blinders in place which is one reason for this. Many on the differences between the LGBT and Intersex communities rather than the parallel issues we share. And for right now, that pecking order isn't about to change. Thus, the separists attitudes that keep all of us united from being one big kick ass force to be heard and reckon with.
The nature of diagnosising the intersexed or transexed individuals' gender is time-consuming and based on the theory that gender be assigned at birth. This alone presents the physician, parents and the individual themselves with a dilemma if they strive for placement in one of the customary genders, male or female.
The belief that gender consist of two exclusive types is maintained and perpetuated by the medical community in the face of incontrovertible physical evidence that this is not mandated by biology. Once we admit that we have a different sexuality, gender manifestation, genital or genetic make-up - only then can we move on and become more than that.
Biological explanations, not socialization and certainly not libertarian arguments need to be emphasized to gain political support. (Note that the dissenting justices in the anti-gay Bowers v. Hardwick decision were swayed by the "homosexuality is biological" argument). Intersexualism is accepted as biological in nature and it is my belief that transsexuality will soon follow and be removed from the DSM.
Many TG folk don't need, and don't want to be legally recognized as a permanent member of their true gender. They aren't seeking to change their Birth Certificate or to marry outside their assigned gender; they (generally) don't want to be able to radically change their bodies with hormones and facial surgery; and for the guys, they certainly don't want to lose their male tackle or lose the use of it, either. They don't lose their families, friends, careers, religious practice and a heap more because they choose to transition. They can go out with the girls on Friday night and be with the "boys" on the weekend. They aren't born women, but men who want to spend time being like women, or vice versa.
As I said, that's fine and I don't deny them the right or hold them as deviants for doing it and there are fundamental differences between the transgender, transsexuals and intersexuals that we need to be clear about and, more importantly, we need to ensure that society: including doctors, politicians and bureaucrats are clear about too if we are ever to achieve the basic human right to be recognized as our true selves. TG stigma severely clouds the thinking on gender issues every time! One drag queen or transsexual on the national TV show does more damage to the credibility of our rights campaign than you could ever imagine. It re-establishes in everyone's mind that we are deluded deviants and no-one is going to support a delusion.
Up until now there have been many IS groups that have apparently had transphobic attitudes. I believe this is caused by the stigma associated with some of the other gender blessings. Fortunately, many internationally regarded gender experts support my prognostication that TS is an IS condition and the number is growing as more research results are published.
I haven't sought to disassociate - I have tried to differentiate. I actually spend a lot of time educating many that EO laws do not distinguish between TG, TS, IS or any other individual in so far as protection where discrimination is concerned, Nor should they as it is my belief that the constitution was met to be inclusive of everyone. But many gay, lesbian and transgendered friends are simply too narrowly focused on their issues to see the suffering of their brothers and sisters and the parallels we all share. I think its time to unite as a community, educate society and be recognized for the passionate productive individuals we are.
Conclusion
Gender blessed individuals are at the mercy of the medical and legal establishments, often at enormous expense monetarily, emotionally and physically for which we have little or no coverage, guarantee or control. The fact that our identities, destinies, our very bodies can be dictated by others is I hope as appalling to you as it is me.
It is my sincere hope that out of this you take a new perspective on an often invisible part of humanity. Invisible because it has been easier for many to blend into society rather than make waves. Invisible because many of us will not be exploited on daytime TV but have families and fulfilling jobs, basically, "a life". We are behaved individuals that are seen just as that. The only time things arise are when things go wrong.
With your new knowledge I pray that you leave here better equipped to provide the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding we so desperately need.
Sometimes I think the greatest problem in our culture is its need to dichotomize everyone into neat and tidy boxes, "male" and "female". There are many Native American and First Nations cultures where multiple genders and even multiple sexualities are celebrated and recognized. How sad we all can’t seem to love and celebrate one another's diverse ways of expressing our inner passions?
Once we admit that we have a different sexuality, gender manifestation, genital or genetic make-up - only then can we move on and become more than that. Analogy to a tree, as each part, the roots, leaves, limbs, bark, fruit and flowers goes their own way, doing their own thing it is all to the common good of the growth of the tree itself by working in unity. I beseech you all you consider yourself as part of the common good for the community and seek the same from others that while different, and like you, cannot survive, cannot grow alone.
A Special Thanks to the following:
Bodies Like Ours
The International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) for the conference
Intersexed Society of North America (ISNA)
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Research, Education and Support. (CARES) Foundation for allowing dissemination of their literature.
Referances:
She's Not There : A Life in Two Genders, by Jennifer Finney Boylan
See Whom can transsexuals marry? And from whom can they inherit? By Joanna Grossman lawjlg@hofstra.edu NOTE: This was published after the second Gardiner case
See From http://slate.msn.com/?id=2063410, The Trying Game The mutual frustration of transsexuals and conservatives. By William Saletan
See Lessons from the Intersexed, Suzanne J. Kessler p. 14
and: Mariano Castro-Magana, Moris Angulo, and Platon J. Collipp, "Management of the Child with Ambiguous Genitalia", Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality 18, no. 4 (April 1984): 172-188
See Division of Pediatric Endocrinology in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland at: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/pediatricendocrinology/intersex/sd4.html
See Ethel Sloane, Biology of Women, 3d ed. (Albany: Delmar Publishers, 1993), p. 168
See National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers at: http://www.nocirc.org/intersexed/ and
See Surgical Treatment of Infants with Ambiguous Genitalia: Deficiencies in the Standard of Care and Informed Consent by Hazel Glenn Beh and Milton Diamond http://www.afn.org/~sfcommed/B&D.htm and
See Dove on Heterosexism John Hopkins University Archives at: http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jonathan/debate/ceda-l/archive/CEDA-L-Apr-1997/msg01080.html
http://www.intersexsupport.org/intersex_defined.htm
See The Gender Puzzle/2 October 28 2001, Sunday Times Magazine at:
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Sunday-Times/stimazmaz01014.html
Lawyer, George Shibbley in Long Beach: Doctors, professors of Psychology at CSUF, Chief of Endocrinology at USC-LAC, Chief of Urology at UCLA, Chief of OB/GYN, Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara,CA
See: Ambiguous Genitalia and Intersexuality by Joel Hutcheson, MD, Assistant Professor, Departments of Surgery and Urology, Wake Forest University Medical Center
The Endocrine Society is the world's largest and most active organization devoted to the research, study and clinical practice of endocrinology.
High Incidence of a Male-Specific Genetic Marker in Phenotypic Female Chinook Salmon from the Columbia River. This research was supported by a University of Idaho Seed Grant to J.J. Nagler.
See Kevin and Jennifer v The Attorney General for the Commonwealth SY8136/99 at: http://www.wallbanks.com/news.html and http://www.familycourt.gov.au/judge/2001/html/rekevin_text.html
See Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group (Australia), Intersex Information Booklet at: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aissg/
"In the Phallus Palace" edited by Dean Kotula and a journal "Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry" Dr. DIamond's web site at www.hawaii.edu/PCSS
See Lessons from the Intersexed, Suzanne J. Kessler p. 31
See http://www.bowdoin.edu/~sbodurt2/court/cases/bowers.html
"Clitoromegaly (AKA Clitoromeddling) Micropenis in the female. A longer definition would be superfluous, since this condition is apt to be cut off before the patient can pronounce it."
Organisation Intersex International
An Intersex Primer
Concerns shared by many including the intersexed by Dalelynn, Janet, Joan and many others My Sincere Thanks to all that have stood by me
and helped educate those that would hear.
