Mental Health



After exploring different methods of treatment of intersex infants, I wanted to find out what effect intersex has on a person’s mental health. This area is extremely unexplored. There is little mental health data of intersex individuals available. When a medical team first sat down in the 1950’s and drew up a treatment plan for intersex infants, gender and sex was viewed extremely differently. Back in 1950, it didn’t matter that most of the psychological harm intersex individuals endured was because they were ostracized by a society that stigmatized DSD. The blame for their mental health issues was placed on the disorder itself and not the harm inflicted on them by outside forces. I mean, it’s just stupid. Today, we acknowledge that there are many forces that influence mental health among intersex individuals.

Bradley University

Explained on The Body Project page from Bradley University, it has traditionally been understood that preforming ‘corrective’ surgery on intersex infants would spare them of mental harm, such as feelings of shame or gender confusion, research shows us that this is exactly what can result from ignoring a child’s DSD. There are many downsides of traditional corrective surgery, as “cosmetic surgery done in infancy can result in loss of sensation in the genitals, infertility, physical discomfort, psychological distress, and impairment of sexual function and satisfaction.” These lasting effects are one piece of the argument that this surgery is infant genital mutilation as it is typically a procedure done for a non-life threatening disorder with permanent repercussions.
As with any person who has been told there is something cosmetically wrong with their body, intersex children who have undergone traditional treatment often report feelings of disgust towards their bodies, anger and shame that can have a massive impact on their interpersonal relationships, and “self-consciousness in sexual experiences, avoidance of sexual contact, and difficulty forming healthy relationships”. Suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation are highly reported as well. These mental health struggles are found in larger numbers in the intersex population than in the average population.


The mental health struggles so many intersex individuals experience makes it clear that we must strive for an open and accepting society. Gender assignment on intersex infants isn’t only unnecessary, it’s damaging. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what anybody’s body looks like but our own. Moving forward, I would like to know exactly what dictates what genital mutilation is and why we might be hesitant to classify surgery on intersex infants as genital mutilation.

Comments

  1. cailaApril 17, 2017 at 4:48 AM

    I enjoyed reading your post. I found it really interesting and some parts sad I was not aware that "cosmetic surgery done in infancy can result in loss of sensation in the genitals, infertility, physical discomfort, psychological distress, and impairment of sexual function and satisfaction" I was also never aware of the mental health they would experience throughout their life because of a surgery that they had no choice over.

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