Short Post 2/17/11

Short Post 2/17/11
I finished the reading for this class feeling very conflicted because I simply did not know what I believed was the right course of action for an intersex baby and their family. Much of the medical treatment sounded rather barbaric and did not always even produce the desired results. It certainly seems wrong for Doctors to lie to families about the procedures that they are performing on their children. Then there is another side of me that feels as if I were an intersex person I would want the surgery performed when I was a child. I feel as though that way I could live the most normal childhood and life that is possible, My real problem in comprehending the entire experience of an intersex person is that I am always have felt strongly that I am meant to be a girl. I do not know whether it was socially constructed or if I was born feeling that way, but it is hard for me to imagine not feeling at home within my gender. Before I could even possibly make any judgment calls I needed to gain insight into the experience. I found an article in the New York Times that really helped me understand, the link to this article is
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/magazine/24intersexkids.html
This article is about Cheryl Chase who received surgery as an 18 month old to make her a “normal” female. Chase without ever knowing that she had received surgery struggled with feelings of unhappiness her entire life. She ended up discovering her past and becomes a strong advocate for intersex individuals. What really spoke to me about this article was the standardized treatment plan that Chase was calling for in dealing with intersex babies. Chase believes that a gender should be assigned at birth based on an analysis of chromosomes, hormones, physiology and other factors, but that no surgical treatment should be performed. I strongly agree with this method of treatment because I think that in order to have any hope of a healthy childhood a kid should be assigned a “best guess” at a gender. That way the families and doctors can hope that this ends up being and if it is that individual can make an educated decision about whether they wish to have surgery when they are older. If the decision is wrong there will be difficulty in switching genders, but at least there will be no scarring or trauma caused by surgery. I know that it can seem insensitive that I believe a gender should be declared rather than attempting to raise the child with an ambiguous gender. My only defense to this position is that I feel like it is a realistic strategy given the world in which we live. I cannot imagine trying to raise a child and socialize them while remaining entirely gender neutral. It would be ideal to believe that one could protect a gender neutral image for a child and then let them develop their own, but I cannot see how that would function within our society.