Pediatric Ethics and the Surgical Assignment of Sex Essay

“I'm not like other girls,and I don't want to be. The person who people want me to be isn't who I am, but that doesn't mean I'm going to change my gender to fit the stereotypes. I'm going to remain a girl who loves boy things” (Anonymous). Science has crossed the line with gender reassignment surgery. The process of gender reassignment surgery is an unnecessary mutilation. It reinforces gender stereotypes. Also there is no scientific proof that the ‘disease’ that people claim to have even exist.

Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome--that was the condition spat in my face as the doctor came in to tell me what was wrong with my child. But don’t worry! Corrective surgery can come to the rescue and “fix” my child. Basically, my child doesn’t have a place in the world unless they fit the norms, and surgery is the only way to do so. Honestly? Fuck that. The surgery is completely unnecessary because there aren’t any serious medical implications, and would only cause further harm; raising my child without a forced gender will allow for both freedom in gender development as well as avoiding the trauma of incorrect gender assignment.

Discussion of issues related to non-normative sexual and gender identities as related to mental health began in the 19th century (Drescher, 2010). Initially medical and psychiatric providers viewed issues related to gender identity as resulting from delusional thought processes (Drescher, 2010). As a result the concept of surgery as a solution to gender identity differences was viewed as unnecessary and ultimately an incorrect form of treatment (Drescher, 2010). In 1952 the first gender reassignment surgery was performed in Denmark on an American citizen (Drescher, 2010). The publicity in the American media that followed this surgery brought the concept of gender identity to the public eye. During the 1960s research about gender identity started to develop and it was the work of Money, Stoller, Benjamin, and Green that ultimately change professional and public concept of Gender Identity (Drescher, 2010). These four individuals were among the first to conduct clinical and academic research on gender identity and gender roles (Drescher, 2010). As a result of their research beliefs about non-normative gender identity shifted from a problem of the mind to a biological disorder that was fixed and should be treated with

In 1997, Rolling Stone Magazine published The True Story of John/Joan. This true story, about the real life Bruce Reimer, chronicled the diagnosis and lifetime of a man who was given gender reassignment surgery as a small child due to an accident during the circumcision process. Every attempt was made by both parents and doctors to raise him as a female and according to the female gender roles appropriate to the times. Nonetheless, Bruce remained adamant in his own gender identity as a male, rejecting feminine options from the very beginning (Colapinto, 1997). Despite clear evidence of the enormous social impact on the development of gender roles and suggestions that gender roles

Starting at the time of the usual onset of puberty, testosterone replacement can help treat or prevent a number of problems. Testosterone may be given as an injection or with a gel or patch on the skin. The therapy allows a boy to undergo the body changes that normally occur at puberty, such as developing a deeper voice, growing facial and body hair, and increasing muscle mass and penis size. It can also improve bone density and reduce the risk of fractures. It will not result in testicle enlargement or improve infertility. Breast tissue removal in males who develop enlarged breasts (gynecomastia), excess breast tissue can be removed by a plastic surgeon, leaving a more normal-looking chest. Speech and physical therapy treatments can help boys with Klinefelter syndrome overcome problems with speech, language and muscle weakness. Educational support is very important with boys who have Klinefelter syndrome. They usually have trouble learning and can benefit from extra assistance. Parents should talk to their child's teacher, school counselor or school nurse about what kind of support might help. Most men with Klinefelter syndrome are unable to father children, because no sperm are produced in the testicles. Some men with Klinefelter syndrome may have some minimal sperm production. One option that may benefit men with

Bradley et al., also mention a similar case in which a 2-month year old male was injured during an electrocautery circumcision and his entire penile shaft was burned and the penis eventually sloughed off. At 7-months the rest of the penis and testes were removed and the parents made the decision to reassign their son to a female and to raise him as a girl. The patient was interviewed at two separate times. The first time was at age 16 and the patient stated that she had been living a female life and had no uncertainty about being a woman. The patient mentioned that during her childhood she viewed herself as a “tomboy” but she still maintained her circle of friends to mainly girls. She wanted to have sexual intercourse with males so she arranged a vaginoplasty. She was interviewed once more at age 26 and reported that she had been attracted to women in fantasy, and enjoyed experiences with both women and men. She now

This is also highlighted in Between the Sexes, when Debbie Hartman makes the hasty choice to change her son, Kyle into a girl. Both parents and intersexed individuals show a great deal of confusion within the standard, two-gender system of the modern world. The seven people from "Gender Identity and Coping...", were asked if they were happy with their gender reassignment surgery. Six replied that they were not (Schweizer, 196). All of these case studies may take from a small sample, but they also all point to similar results. Although, all six described their dissatisfaction with the surgery differently, implying a deeper level of consideration than Gorman and Cole display. One wanted to be left as they were. Another wished their parents chose the other sex. Generally, though, Between the Sexes's assertion that gender reassignment is psychologically harmful is well supported. In order for this to be truly acceptable, researchers would need a sampling of a group of intersexuals who were left unaltered. Unfortunately, no such study exists.

Through examining the ways intersex individuals are treated in a medical setting, one can see how science only allows binary bodies to be created. Crawley et al. (2007) discusses intersex individuals and the standard treatment of intersex children, being to alter their ‘abnormal’ genitalia to resemble one of the two genders. This has become the normal treatment as if this is necessary, but the only threat the child is in danger of is not fitting perfectly into the heteronormative standard of correct genitalia. Because surgical intervention proves we alter and change one’s sex, it becomes difficult to claim that sex and gender are solely biological, when clearly one’s gender and sex becomes largely altered the moment they are born into society. Anne Fausto Sterling, outlines her concept of the five sexes, explaining that intersex is a term used to describe any individual that doesn’t fit into the narrow categories of male and female. She explains that the same process that was in play in the Middle Ages is

“The Five Sexes Revisited” focused on the importance of therapy over surgery. Medical ethicist Laurence B. McCullough of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor Collefe of Medicine in Houston, Texas “contend[ed] that in the process of assigning gender, physicians should minimize what he calls irreversible assignments: taking steps such as the surgical removal

Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism published an article by Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis and Daniel Klink titled Adolescents with gender dysphoria in 2015. The article discusses the increase of youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria and receiving medical treatment and possibly surgery as well. The authors stressed the importance for psychotherapy and/or family therapy. The article also discussed the factors that influence gender development psychological, social, and biological. There are not many studies on determinants of gender dysphoria, and no epidemiological studies in children younger than 15 exist at all. Although, more recently research has focused on histological and brain imagining studies on individuals diagnosed

This is why my initial decision might have been to do what Dr. Gared recommended: consent to the surgery and raise my baby like a girl. Naturally, if we were to do that, we would rear him or her as a girl, and except him or her to behave like a normal girl. This is a phenomenon known as forced gender socialization, and defined as the tendency for boys and girls to be socialized differently. Indeed, like any mother would, I would dress “her” up like a doll and set up play dates for “her” with the neighbor’s four-year old daughter. I would read “her” bedtime stories about princesses. Family, friends, teachers, and kids at school, would also treat our baby like a girl, thus enforcing gender socialization. However, our child might not grow up like any other little girl. Even if Dr. Gared were to remove the testes, there exists research that proves that “sex chromosomes contribute to sex differences in behavior and brain morphology” (Arnold and McCarthy, 15). This means that my child, with XY chromosomes, could grow up thinking and feeling more like a boy. Pamela Crawford, an intersex child’s adoptive mother says that her “child, now 8 years old, feels more like a boy and wants to be a normal boy” (Sutton, 1). Raised as a girl, the child struggled against her girlhood from the start. This can actually be a rather traumatic experience for intersex children

At birth, the individual’s external genitalia mimics the genitals of a female and may present itself as ambiguous depending upon the individual. The genitals is easily mistaken as female genitals because of an mutation that generates while the child is inside the womb. This mutation hinders the developing child’s body from changing testosterone, a male hormone into the secondary hormone DHT “dihydrotestosterone” (Live Science).

In this essay, I will argue that the hospital board was morally unjust in their decision to refuse permission for Dr. Smith to perform a third amputation because by doing so they basically let patients take matters into their own hands, which is even more dangerous and life threatening. This procedure is somewhat closely related to gender reassignment surgery. However, the difference is that it is the individual's idea of how they should look does not match their actual physical form. As a result, many psychologists and neurologists have suggested theories into what causes this type of thought. This is a disorder called Body Integrity Identity Disorder (also known as BIID). Moreover, it is

A four-year-old child in Australia, who has not even started school yet, is getting ready to undergo a sex change. Many people are arguing that the child is too young to undergo such a drastic change. They have also stated that this change can have lasting lifelong consequences. The child is going to be the youngest person in the world to undergo a sex change operation.

Sex hormones are crucial to prenatal development. Genetics and hormones are both deciding factors in regards to which gender a person will have. These two factors, as part of biology, can influence gender development . We know that an X-X chromosome means a female and an X-Y means a male. Androgens, a group of sex hormones, are found moreso in males, while estrogens sex hormones, are seen in females. Additionally, there are another class of sex hormones known as 'Progesterone', that can be found in both genders -- male or female. Atypical levels of hormones in the fetus can make new borns look like the opposite sex. Moreover, there are conditions that can transpire when levels of hormones are at abnormal levels. 'Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia'