THE LAST WORD 08-10-15

THE LAST WORD

At birth, M.C. was born with ambiguous genitalia: a 2-centimeter penis, a small vaginal opening, an undescended testicle, both ovarian and testicular tissue, and blood testosterone levels deemed normal for a male. Roughly 1 in every 2,000 babies in the U.S. is born like M.C., with traits that fall within the spectrum between male and female. When babies are born this way, doctors typically look at genetic, hormonal and anatomical factors to determine whether the baby will grow up to identify as boy or girl, and then perform surgery to make their genitals fit that gender assignment. But many intersex patients, parents, and experts are challenging this arrangement and standing opposed to surgical fixes, as Azeen Ghorayshi reports at BuzzFeed News. M.C. is now a 10-year-old who identifies as a boy, and his parents are waging a landmark lawsuit that asks: should doctors be assigning genders to children born intersex?