Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00078)

Just amazing. I had no idea this was going on. One thing that I did 
know that most people do not is that when physicians decide to do a 
surgery on an infant, they do it WITHOUT ANESTHESIA. What a way to 
come into the world, eh? Adults who had surgeries as infants without 
the benefit of anesthesia bear the psychological scars from that into 
adulthood, as one can imagine.

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Bhakti Ananda Goswami 
<bhakti.eohn@v...>" <bhakti.eohn@v...> wrote:
> Dear Steve,
> 
> Thanks for your response.
> 
> There is in fact a huge global medical ethics debate going on 
> regarding the prevalent and increasing existence and the 
> proper 'treatment' of intersexed persons. In my Sex 
Differentiation 
> report (see my Topical Index), I list some of the most common forms 
> of animal and same mechanism-related forms of human intersex. One 
of 
> the most troubling medical ethics issues involved is the standard 
> performance of sex-change surgery on intersexed infants and very 
> young children. The doctors guessing what a child's sex and gender 
> identity is force THEIR choice surgically on the child. Because 
they 
> are often WRONG, this condemns the child to a life of physical and 
> social misery. The intersexed persons' rights movement is 
demanding 
> that this be stopped, and intersexed people be allowed to exist, 
and 
> to chose their own sex assignment when they are old enough to do 
so. 
> 
> Parents who have refused to allow doctors to perform these 
surgeries 
> on their intersexed babies, have had their babies legally taken 
away 
> from them by courts, acting as the agents of the doctors who want 
to 
> do the surgeries! 
> 
> So it is a fact that at present globally the medical profession is 
> philosophically, legally and financially committed to and invested 
in 
> surgically forcing everyone into either a male or female appearance 
> shortly after birth. This surgical choice OF THE DOCTORS is then 
> reinforced by a lifetime of hormonal therapy. Intersex activists 
are 
> saying that if they are otherwise healthy babies, this surgical 
> assignment of male or female sex should not be forced on them by 
the 
> medical establishment. 
> 
> One of the problems is that it is impossible to draw a simple line 
> between normal male intersex and normal female. All chromosomal or 
> hormonal or hormonally induced structural defects or deviations 
from 
> the reproductive norm are in fact forms (mild to severe) of 
intersex. 
> 
> Intersex states exist when there is a chromosomal, hormonal, 
> neuroendocrinological or other variation or imperfect 
differentiation 
> or formation / completion of the male or female reproductive 
system. 
> some of these anatomical imperfections are so common, that they are 
> not noramally thought of as forms of hermaphroditism, (like 
> hypospydias in males) but they in fact are. Imperfect 
> differentiations / reproductive problems are most often caused by 
> hormonal influences in utero. Thus when a baby is born with 
> reproductive abnormalities ( these are not the result of an injury) 
> then the cause is most often a condition that falls within the 
range 
> of disorders of intersex. The difference is only in severity, 
> because there is no sharp demarcation between normal and slightly 
> intersexed. 
> 
> The medical, legal and religious establishments are afraid to allow 
> very intersexed persons to chose their own sex assignments, because 
> of the implications for the rest of the people in the grayer areas 
of 
> sex differentiation. Thus, the binary system must be defended at 
all 
> costs. Even if it means the cruel multilation of helpless little 
> babies who happen to be different from the perfect male or female 
> model. 
> 
> There is certainly a medical tyranny involved in this. Read Dr. 
> Alice Dreger's book on the history of this. "The Medical Invention 
> of Sex" is the title, I think. She is a top medical ethicist 
involved 
> with the ISNA (Intersex Society of North America).
> 
> 
> best wishes, 
> 
> BA G