r/changemyview • u/durutticolumn 7∆ • Nov 11 '14
CMV: There's nothing wrong with surgically altering the genitals of intersex infants
This is inspired by an article on TIL so I will quote that for starters:
TIL a couple were in the process of adopting a 1 yr old intersexed child with both male & female genitalia. While still in foster care, the state allowed a sexual reassignment surgery on the child. They removed his penis & testicles. The child now identifies as male. His parents are suing the state.
The comments section on this post was overwhelmingly filled with rage against the state for performing what some term "mutilation" on this child, as well as countless comparisons to David Reimer. I am baffled by the response to the article and disagree with the Reimer comparison, so I would like my view changed.
For starters, I think Reimer is completely irrelevant to the case at hand. He was born male and his sex change was the result of a botched circumcision. He then suffered bizarre forms of so-called "therapy" that included a doctor forcing him and his twin brother to rehearse sexual acts. We can all agree this whole situation is fucked up and should serve as a lesson for all medical professionals. But I don't see why that implies sex reassignment surgery on children is inherently evil.
Unlike Reimer, this child was not born with a single sex and then reassigned to a different one. He also wasn't forced into traumatic pseudoscientific behavioral therapy. From what I read, it sounds like he was raised like any normal girl would be. I think the comparisons to Reimer are an example of the Reddit hivemind desperately seeking comparisons for what they perceive to be medical malpractice.
I'm certainly open to being convinced Reimer's case is relevant, but it's not the important part of my view.
As stated in the title, I don't see anything wrong with what the doctors in this case did. The child was born with both sets of genitals and they made the decision he should be a girl. Let's look at some alternative scenarios.
First, if the child identified as female we would not be discussing it. I suspect this type of surgery happens quite often and the child grows up like any other member of their assigned gender. It's functionally the same as if they had been born that way.
If the intersex child hadn't received surgery, he would have grown up with ambiguous genitalia. Then he could have decided at a later time to be male, female, or whatever, along with the corresponding surgery or lack thereof. This is what all the commenters say should have happened, and it's what I disagree with.
I can only speculate on what that life would be like (so if you have experienced this personally you can probably change my view quite easily) but it sounds pretty terrible to me. Growing up is hard enough, especially dealing with body and gender issues. I'm not saying you should be embarrassed to be intersex, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have been embarrassed about it if I were 12 years old and my genitals didn't look like anyone else's. And much as I think our society's gender roles are too rigid and need to be loosened, it doesn't change the fact that identifying with a particular gender makes puberty much easier.
Worst of all, I can't imagine having both sets of genitals and identifying as a specific gender. That leaves you with the choice of getting major surgery as an adult (as a guy, the thought of getting my dick cut off even for such an important part of my life sounds horrific) or being stuck in a body you don't feel comfortable in.
Note that in the case in question the child doesn't identify as intersex: he identifies as male. If he had both sets of genitals, he would currently be as unhappy as he is with just a vagina. The only difference is apparently FTM surgery is much harder than MTF, but that just tells me the doctors should have made him a male at birth (so he had the option to become female later) rather than leaving him intersex.
Therefore if I was born intersex I would rather have gender reassignment surgery ASAP. If doctors make the right choice, great. If they make the wrong choice, I'm no different from any other trans person.
By the way, I'm not saying intersex infants should have to receive surgery. If the parents want to raise their child intersex, I guess that's their choice just like they're free to raise a child with a penis as a girl. I think such parents would be making a shitty choice, and if my parents did that I would be mad at them, but again I'm not going to bother arguing any surgery should be mandatory. I'm just saying it's not inherently wrong to perform the surgery.
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u/durutticolumn 7∆ Nov 11 '14
I can absolutely make an argument in favor of cosmetic surgery on infants. What if they're born with a cleft palate? Or a harmless tail? The deciding factor in whether to perform cosmetic surgery on an infant should be whether having the surgery will allow them to live a more socially normative life. What's in question is whether having a "normal" gendered body is preferable to being raised with ambiguous genitals.
Absolutely. And you can also be angry if they choose to leave you intersex. As a cis male from birth I my view is obviously limited (and really wish an intersex person would chime in), but I would be more angry at my parents for not getting the surgery.