Deciding on Surgical Alteration or Non-Intervention
People are classified based on such factors as their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, and one common categorization is a person’s sex. Despite the typical grouping as male or female, many individuals do not belong to a distinct cluster because they have non-traditional genitalia or a set of chromosomes. Such a biological uniqueness often causes family concerns, as they are uncertain how to act (AIS-DSD, 2014). If I were a parent of a child with ambiguous genitalia (AG), I would most likely leave my baby surgically unaltered because of knowing about the experiences of people with similar conditions.
Perspectives from Individuals with DSD and the Medical Community
Individuals who cannot be biologically categorized as female or male face many challenges, including surgical alteration (SA). In a film presented by AIS-DSD (2014), Janet is said to have a disorder of sexual development (DSD), with her first clear memory of being at a hospital. The SA did not help with Janet’s condition, as the procedure left Janet with a negative experience that did not clarify the individual’s status (AIS-DSD, 2014).
The film suggests that one cannot be certain of how many SAs a child will have to undergo or that the person will not need more SAs in adolescence. Those having SAs done on them are likely to remain confused about their sex, be ashamed when talking about it with their peers, and have tainted relationships with their families (AIS-DSD, 2014). Therefore, as a father, I would not put my baby under SA if they had AG, since it appears to cause more harm than benefit. Instead, I would do my best to show my children that I accept and love them unconditionally so they would grow up in a caring household.
Evaluating the Term “Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD)”
Furthermore, I disagree with using the term DSD since it limits the complexity of one’s condition. DSD has been employed to replace definitions such as hermaphrodite and intersex to replace the understanding of different health statuses. However, DSD is somewhat problematic since the word disorder suggests that ambiguity about a person’s biological sex must be repaired, despite such conditions often not requiring SA (Reis, 2007). Instead of DSD, a term of divergence of sexual development has been introduced due to not being as pathologizing as DSD and not labeling intersex people (Reis, 2007). The suggested alternative definition might be a better option because it does not imply that a specific health uniqueness must be surgically corrected.
References
AIS-DSD Support Group. (2014). Me my sex and I [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Reis, E. (2007). Divergence of disorder? The politics of naming intersex. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 50(4), 535-543. Web.