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The state of South Carolina is facing a federal lawsuit
for subjecting a child born with ambiguous genitalia to female
sex-assignment surgery that he didn’t need and now is contrary to his
male gender identity.
The case is brought by a South Carolina couple Mark and Pam Crawford on behalf of their adopted son M.C..
M.C. was born with a condition that meant that, even though he was
originally classed as male, doctors later determined he had both male
and female sex organs. Moreover, his male genitalia did not match the proscribed size for what is classed “normal.”
When M.C. was 16 months old and in state care, South Carolina
Department of Social Services, alongside doctors and department
officials, decided that on this basis, M.C. should undergo
sex-assignment surgery.
They opted in 2006 to fashion M.C. female genitalia because, depending on the case, female genitalia can be easier to craft.
However, South Carolina officials did this despite the fact that
there was no medical reason or need to perform the surgery — simply,
they wanted to correct M.C.’s so-called condition.
Apparently, they never considered how M.C. might define his gender or how it would emerge in later life.
Now that M.C. is 8 years old, however, his adoptive parents say he
self-identifies as male despite the surgery that robbed him of his male
genitalia and left him sex-assigned female. This is also despite M.C.’s
adoptive parents initially raising him as female.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is representing M.C.’s adoptive
parents in a federal lawsuit that is designed to challenge this
practice....
The mistake in this is obvious: a child’s gender is not controlled or defined by the appearance of their sex organs but rather a complex interplay of hereditary characteristics, brain chemistry and the physiology of the brain.
An accurate measure on the number of intersex children born in the USA every year is hard to determine simply because there are many different conditions that may fall within that bracket, but estimates by the Intersex Society of North America put the figure at 1 in 1,500 to 1 in 2,000 births and up.
Based on years of consultation with intersex patients, medical professionals suggest the best course of action is to raise a child as the gender that medical evidence would support as being a likely life-long gender
and treat them accordingly, all the time sensitive to how they are
comfortable presenting and expressing themselves to see if a change is
needed.
Good informed consent practice also recommends postponing surgery
until children are able to self-identify and, ideally, can make their
own decisions about their bodies.
By embarking on this historic legal suit, the Crawford family says it hopes to shine a spotlight on sex-assignment practice and prevent other children with intersex conditions or ambiguous genitalia being harmed by unwanted and medically unwarranted sex-assignment surgery.