A whole new way of being

Gender selection a tough topic, author says; fiction title centres on intersex birth
ASHLEY FITZPATRICK
The Telegram

"What happens if it's less than that?"

"When a phallus is less than one point five centimetres, give or take seven hundredths of a centimetre -"

"Seven hundredths?"

"Yes. When it's less than that, we remove the presentation of male aspects and later, during adolescence, we sculpt the female aspects."

"What if it's right in the middle? Right straight, smack dab down the precise centre? One point five centimetres with no seven hundredths."

"Then we make an educated guess. We do endocrinological tests but really, in a newborn, as far as endocrinology goes, we're making a best estimate. Penis size at birth is the primary criterion for assessing a gender."

"Measure her, then."

- A mother and doctor speak about an intersex child, in an excerpt from the novel "Annabel" by Kathleen Winter.

Complete article: Click here

We need to talk about IGM…

June 18, 2010

A couple of days ago, Alice Dreger and Ellen K. Feder jointly posted a brief article (Bad Vibrations) on the Bioethics Forum of the Hastings Center’s website.

The piece picked up on an earlier article, Nerve Sparing Ventral Clitoroplasty: Analysis of Clitoral Sensitivity and Viability – PDF here – published in 2007 by Jennifer Yang (a pediatric urologist), Diane Felsen (a pharmacologist) and Dix P. Poppas, M.D in The Journal of Urology.

Dreger and Feder’s piece focuses attention on Dr Poppas, a pediatric urologist at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Medical College of Cornell University whose “special interest in genital reconstruction [and] surgical aspects of disorders of sexual development” has apparently led him to carry out a program of research on 51 girls aged between 4 months and 24 years old (mean age ± SD 4.6 ± 6.8 years) in which he performed nerve sparing ventral clitoroplasty, which included “followup testing of clitoral viability and sensation after clitoroplasty“.

Read the complete article: Click here

Cornell doctor sliced young girls’ genitals

Cornell doctor sliced young girls’ genitals; Tested girls as young as six with vibrator, columnist says

By David Edwards

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

A Cornell doctor is performing partial clitoris removal on young girls and then using a vibrator to test their sensation in follow-up tests, a shocking column by syndicated columnist Dan Savage asserted Wednesday.

Dr. Dix P. Poppas has been performing the procedure on girls older than five for several years, according to 2007 paper (PDF) documenting the research. The doctor and patients' parents allegedly believe that the girls' clitorises are too large and create too much sensation.

Complete article: Click here

See also:

After Cutting Little Girls' Clitorises, Ivy League Doctor Tests Handiwork With a Vibrator

Cornell University Doctor Engaging In Genital Mutilation Of Young Girls

A Prenatal Treatment Raises Questions of Medical Ethics

Gina Wilson – Discovering One’s Intersex Self.

Activist’s anger as Malawian’s gender is misreported

A trans activist has attacked the media for referring to a Malawian put on trial for homosexuality as a man rather than a trans woman.

Paris Lees

9 June 2010

A trans activist has attacked the media for referring to a Malawian put on trial for homosexuality as a man rather than a trans woman.

Transgender activist and writer on sex and sexuality, Jane Fae, says the “gay” Malawian, Tiwonge Chimbalanga has made it clear that she is female. Chimbalanga, 26, dresses in traditional women’s clothes, but media outlets have received mixed messages from the couple’s legal team.

She was one half of a couple put on trial for homosexuality and sentenced to 14 years in prison in Malawi. But the jail term was lifted after intense international pressure including appeals from Barack Obama, Madonna and gay, trans and human rights activists.

Press coverage has so far dismissed the possibility that Chimbalanga has intersex features, but PinkPaper.com has discovered previously overlooked online court documents. According to the Malawi Legal Information Institute’s official website Flony Flank told the High Court that Chimbalanga’s male genitalia: “Did no [sic] look normal.”

In May Chimbalanga told the New York Times: “I have male genitals, but inside I am a complete woman. Maybe I cannot give birth to a child, but I menstruate every month.”

Months earlier, the NYT reported that Tiwonge Chimbalanga is known affectionately as Aunt Tiwo and: “Looked like a man but said he [sic] was a woman.”

Fae believes the media should have paid more attention to these comments and told PinkPaper.com: “If the BBC and Channel 4 were unable to cover issues of sexuality with more intelligence, they should leave it to those who can. It is very clear from reporting of the case that Tiwonge identifies as female. This is not so much a case of anti-gay prejudice, as anti-transgender.”

Y Gavriel Ansara of advocacy group Organisation Intersex International welcomed the lifting of the couple’s sentence but has called for greater accuracy in media coverage saying: “This is a great victory but some important facts are missing about the extent of the injustice. Tiwonge Chimbalanga is not a man.”

Fae believes anti-trans prejudice in the United States is much greater than that in Europe and that the misgendering of Chimbalanga was deliberate.

She said: “Re-positioning the story into an anti-gay framework allowed the US media to feel superior to the Africans, without having to confront their own transphobia. It remains puzzling as to why UK media continue to peddle this wholly false line.”

But this version of events was put in doubt by some comments from human rights activist Peter Tatchell who was closely involved in the efforts to get the couple pardoned.

While the case was continuing, he told PinkPaper.com: “I have got [prison visitors] to ask Tiwonge about his/her gender identity but the answers are unclear.

“Although they have been convicted of homosexuality, I suggest that we do not refer to Steven and Tiwonge as a ‘gay couple’ until these issues are clarified.”

It has even been suggested that the Malawian couple lacked the vocabulary to accurately describe Chimbalanga – a country where trans people are obviously far less open or visible.

Despite this possible explanation for the inaccuracy, Fae insists the misgendering of Tiwonge is a serious offence: “By following the party line that this is all about homophobia, the UK’s national news media are every bit as bad as those they would condemn, parcelling up the oppressed into acceptable and unacceptable minorities.”

PinkPaper.com reported earlier today that the couple has now split up. Tatchell said their relationship was put under huge pressure and they had received death threats as well as a warning from the government that they faced re-arrest if they stayed together.

Source

Church says Alterina’s marriage illegal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 06/07/2010 9:46 AM | Jakarta

The Indonesian Bishops' Council (KWI) has declared the controversial marriage of transgender Alterina Hofan illegal, kompas.com reported on Monday.

KWI secretary Benny Susetyo said the Catholic Church could not accept the marriage and suggested that Alterina should seek medication rather than changing her sex status.

“The Catholic Church bans marriage between people of the same sex,” Benny said, adding that the KWI deemed Alterina had defied her nature.

Alterina has the rare Klinefelter’s syndrome which gives him an extra X chromosome, making him look more effeminate. After years of operations, he documented himself as a man and even married Jane Hadipoespito.

Benny said the health problem could not justify the change in sex status. “Her DNA and genetics prove she is female, therefore she can be medically cured,” the priest said.

He suggested that the state should regulate the issue of same-sex marriage as it could create more social problems in the future.

Jane’s parents denounced the marriage, filing a lawsuit against Alterina for fraud because he had previously declared he was a woman on his identity card. Alterina is facing a seven-year imprisonment for the alleged fraud.

Source

Boy Listed As Girl Is Really a Boy, Doctors, Census Takers Say

Candra Malik

Boy Listed As Girl Is Really a Boy, Doctors, Census Takers Say

Semarang, Central Java. A 15-year-old who has struggled to be recognized as a boy for years can officially do so now, having undergone intensive examinations at Dr. Karyadi Hospital in Semarang.

The hospital concluded on Thursday that Maemunah, who is listed as a girl in his birth certificate, has the requisite sexual organs to prove he is indeed a boy, and there no longer needs to be any confusion over the matter.

Maemunah’s case became public recently after census takers were confused as to how to list gender of the young resident of Banyumas, Central Java. Maemunah insisted when questioned by census takers that he was a boy, even though he is listed as a girl on the birth certificate.

Dr. Ardy Santosa, a urologist at Karyadi Hospital, confirmed that although official hospital examination results had yet to be released, he could safely conclude that Maemunah, alias Mei Pur nomo, is indeed male.

“We still have to wait for the results of chromosome testing, but I can safely conclude that Mei is male. He has a penis,” Dr. Ardy told the Jakarta Globe.

Maemunah underwent tests at Karyadi Hospital to find out whether he has Klinefelter’s syndrome, which causes male genitalia to develop late.

Klinefelter’s syndrome, according to Indra G Mansur, a University of Indonesia andrologist, is a chromosomal disorder affecting males that causes them to look like females.

Maemunah underwent a series of medical examinations, including ultrasonography and chromosome testing.

“He definitely has a penis and we are also checking his testicular function. We will check the levels of the hormone testosterone to explore whether Mei’s sperm can fertilize ova or not,” Ardy said.

He said preliminary examinations showed that Maemunah suffered from partial androgen insensitivity syndrome. PAIS is a rare inherited condition in which babies biologically intended to be boys fail to show full normal male development because their bodies are unable to respond normally to male hormones, otherwise known as androgens — these are the chemical signals secreted into the blood by the testes, which are responsible for all the physical and psychological features of maleness.

Ardy said Maemunah’s penis was deformed and he needed surgery, which would be difficult because of his age.

“I wish the case had been identified at an earlier stage so the child could be operated on at the age of 1 or 2,” Ardy said.

“If the surgery succeeds and Mei receives full male status, the hospital is willing to provide letters of recommendation so that Mei can get his gender status changed legally in court.”

Dr. Paulus A Gozalli of Margono Soekardjo Hospital in Banyumas said Maemunah could not be categorized as a hermaphrodite.

Source