Transgender children

GENDER AS AN OPTION

 Intersexual child are children that are born with intersex condition. The children have genitalia which is not completely male or female. Their physical sex is undetermined. Once, this condition was originally referred as hermaphrodites or pseudo hermaphrodites. Nowadays, it is known as intersexual condition. When an intersexual child is born, doctors will decide which gender the baby should have. Doctors will surgically modify the child’s sex organ to resemble the chosen sex. Usually, doctors tend to decide the gender based on the child sex organ that can be observed or based on its internal reproductive organs, but I feel that this treatment and surgery is unfair to the child due to several reasons.

The first reason is because the surgery usually done based on the doctors convenience. Usually intersex child are assigned to be female. One surgeon when asked why intersex child are usually assigned female, explained, “It’s easier to dig a hole than to build a pole” (Laurent, 2007). For instance, there was a case in 1960, a child called Patrick wrongly decided of its gender where the doctors cut off his male reproductive organs to makes him a girl. The mother refuses to believe the doctors because she had seen Patrick have had several erections. According to article “Sex Police” written by Berdache Jordan in paragraph 9, in that day, it was considered as child abuse if the parent refuses to allow their child to undergo genital remodelling. However, this matter is much more complicated than that. This is because intersex child are affected by both male and female hormones before birth. Therefore, it is impossible to tell which sex the child would prefer to have once they grow up.

The second reason is because surgery may affect the child’s physical conditions. The surgery may cause negative side effects to their sex organ morphology. Besides, operating on infant-size genitalia is a hard task even for experienced doctors. The clitoris removal or clitoris reduction procedures often leave the individual with significant diminished or no sexual sensation later in life. Jordan (1998, p.1) states that given the fact that genital surgery is not medically necessary, that it is irreversible and potentially harmful, that there is growing controversy among medical intersex specialist, and that the child can always choose surgery if they wish when they are old enough to give informed consent, to imposed surgery now would violate the first principle of medicine: (“First, do no harm”). Other than that, the scar tissue will build up and causing an ugly appearance. Scars can sometimes cause extreme pain to them. The surgery is a permanent process. The tissue removed from the clitoris can never be restored. So, these child will be suffered a severe physical damages because of a decision that had been decided while they was yet a tiny infant to decide for themselves.

The third reason is because of extreme emotional affects to the intersexual child. In many cases, intersex child may experience emotional disruption. “Parents most often will not reveal their ordeal to anyone, including the child as s/he comes of age. The child is left physically damages, and in an emotional limbo without excess to information about what has happened to them” (Laurent, 2007). The intersex child may have undergo surgery to remove her small penis while she is still an infant, but later on when she grow up or reach puberty, her psychological emotion might be a man. She’ll end up lived as a male trapped inside a female body. In many cases, they become mentally and emotionally torture throughout their adult life. Laurent (2007, p.2) states that as a growing number of adult intersexual have come forth to speak about their experiences, it is apparent that surgery has generally been more harmful than helpful.

To summarize, intersex child should be given chance and freedom to decide which gender they are more preferably to have. They should be allowed to decide once they are mature enough to understand their own nature and sexual emotion. I believe intersexual child should be given some options to choose their own gender.