Betsy
06-02-04, 10:00 PM
If you are interested in writing her as well concerning her plenary speech to the American Academy of Pediatrics conference in October, the address is mailto:carterweb@emory.edu.
Dear Mrs. Carter,
My name is Betsy Driver. I am a survivor of genital mutilation that occurred here in the US and am now Executive Director of a peer support organization which I co-founded for people born with an intersex condition called Bodies Like Ours. I am writing to you regarding your plenary speech this fall at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference in San Francisco.
Intersex conditions are congenital medical conditions where the genitals or chromosome makeup of a person are not clearly male or female. Often, there are also hormonal issues involved. It is estimated by researcher Anne Fausto- Sterling that approximately 1 out of 2000 live births has an intersex condition. Exact statistics are hard to come by because intersex births are not a reportable condition and there is on-going debate about what constitutes an intersex condition.
The standard medical protocol for these situations has and continues to be one that promotes secrecy, shame, and unnecessary cosmetic genital surgeries. The vast majority of surgery is unnecessary. It is usually done on infants and children without a voice of their own with the goals of making the genitals 'socially acceptable'. It is estimated that approximately five children a day have their genitals surgically altered in the belief that children not clearly male or female are a social emergency.
Rarely is mental health care provided or even referred for the family and then for the child in age appropriate ways. This holds true even if surgery is not performed or is deemed unnecessary. The belief held by many medical people is that knowledge of the condition by the patient is harmful and detrimental. A recent publication about intersexuality by the American Urological Association confirms this: http://www.urologyhealth.org/pediatric/index.cfm?cat=01&topic=31&x=10&y=13
Nowhere in the document is counseling mentioned. Research has shown that counseling, particularly peer support is a key step in healing from any trauma and yet, this is ignored by medical providers who would prefer to surgically alter a child's genitals unnecessarily.
There has also been a disgraceful lack of research done on those who have been subjected to unnecessary genital surgeries. Recently, noted urologist Dr. Ian Aronson addressed the American Urological Association and said, "Doctors should stand in shame" over the lack of research in this area. However, there have been numerous studies done recently pointing to decreased sexual function for victims of this modern travesty. Doctors are often quick to explain that surgical techniques have changed since I had my clitoris amputated and thrown in the trash, but that ignores the fact most surgeries are completely unnecessary.
Mrs. Carter, I hope that you will learn more about the AAP's dirty little secret regarding intersexuality and the harm the current medical protocol is causing before you speak at their plenary in October. I hope that you will use that opportunity to ask these doctors to overcome their own fears and put down their scalpels in favor of qualified mental health care and vital peer support.
On the website of Bodies Like Ours (http://www.bodieslikeours.org) you can read stories from people who have suffered (and survived) the medical protocol that promotes shame and secrecy. The legacy that is being held onto is a human rights violation that has gone unrecognized for too long. Our nation was up in arms over FGM practiced elsewhere but remains silent on intersex genital mutilation.
These surgeries are a violation of most medical ethics as there is absolutely no empirical evidence they are therapeutic or necessary. They are also in violation of the Nuremberg Code (http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/nuremberg.html) because the infant or child has no voice in what is experimental surgery due to the lack of research supporting it. Yet, it continues to be done about five times a day without clear benefit to either the patient or society.
For more information, I would encourage you to also visit the website of the Intersex Society of North America (http://www.isna.org) and Intersex Initiative (http://www.ipdx.org)
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further information about intersex conditions and the travesty of intersex genital mutilation being performed here in the US and elsewhere.
Betsy Driver
Executive Director
Bodies Like Ours
http://www.bodieslikeours.org
PO Box 1732
Easton, PA 18044
610-258-7466 voice
610-258-6631 fax
Bodies Like Ours is a 501(c)(3)organization incorporated in NJ and based in Easton, PA. Bodies Like Ours provides peer support for people born with an intersex condition and helps them erase their shame and secrecy. We are dependent upon your financial support to continue our work. Please consider making a donation today online by visiting our website at http://www.bodieslikeours.org.
Dear Mrs. Carter,
My name is Betsy Driver. I am a survivor of genital mutilation that occurred here in the US and am now Executive Director of a peer support organization which I co-founded for people born with an intersex condition called Bodies Like Ours. I am writing to you regarding your plenary speech this fall at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference in San Francisco.
Intersex conditions are congenital medical conditions where the genitals or chromosome makeup of a person are not clearly male or female. Often, there are also hormonal issues involved. It is estimated by researcher Anne Fausto- Sterling that approximately 1 out of 2000 live births has an intersex condition. Exact statistics are hard to come by because intersex births are not a reportable condition and there is on-going debate about what constitutes an intersex condition.
The standard medical protocol for these situations has and continues to be one that promotes secrecy, shame, and unnecessary cosmetic genital surgeries. The vast majority of surgery is unnecessary. It is usually done on infants and children without a voice of their own with the goals of making the genitals 'socially acceptable'. It is estimated that approximately five children a day have their genitals surgically altered in the belief that children not clearly male or female are a social emergency.
Rarely is mental health care provided or even referred for the family and then for the child in age appropriate ways. This holds true even if surgery is not performed or is deemed unnecessary. The belief held by many medical people is that knowledge of the condition by the patient is harmful and detrimental. A recent publication about intersexuality by the American Urological Association confirms this: http://www.urologyhealth.org/pediatric/index.cfm?cat=01&topic=31&x=10&y=13
Nowhere in the document is counseling mentioned. Research has shown that counseling, particularly peer support is a key step in healing from any trauma and yet, this is ignored by medical providers who would prefer to surgically alter a child's genitals unnecessarily.
There has also been a disgraceful lack of research done on those who have been subjected to unnecessary genital surgeries. Recently, noted urologist Dr. Ian Aronson addressed the American Urological Association and said, "Doctors should stand in shame" over the lack of research in this area. However, there have been numerous studies done recently pointing to decreased sexual function for victims of this modern travesty. Doctors are often quick to explain that surgical techniques have changed since I had my clitoris amputated and thrown in the trash, but that ignores the fact most surgeries are completely unnecessary.
Mrs. Carter, I hope that you will learn more about the AAP's dirty little secret regarding intersexuality and the harm the current medical protocol is causing before you speak at their plenary in October. I hope that you will use that opportunity to ask these doctors to overcome their own fears and put down their scalpels in favor of qualified mental health care and vital peer support.
On the website of Bodies Like Ours (http://www.bodieslikeours.org) you can read stories from people who have suffered (and survived) the medical protocol that promotes shame and secrecy. The legacy that is being held onto is a human rights violation that has gone unrecognized for too long. Our nation was up in arms over FGM practiced elsewhere but remains silent on intersex genital mutilation.
These surgeries are a violation of most medical ethics as there is absolutely no empirical evidence they are therapeutic or necessary. They are also in violation of the Nuremberg Code (http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/nuremberg.html) because the infant or child has no voice in what is experimental surgery due to the lack of research supporting it. Yet, it continues to be done about five times a day without clear benefit to either the patient or society.
For more information, I would encourage you to also visit the website of the Intersex Society of North America (http://www.isna.org) and Intersex Initiative (http://www.ipdx.org)
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further information about intersex conditions and the travesty of intersex genital mutilation being performed here in the US and elsewhere.
Betsy Driver
Executive Director
Bodies Like Ours
http://www.bodieslikeours.org
PO Box 1732
Easton, PA 18044
610-258-7466 voice
610-258-6631 fax
Bodies Like Ours is a 501(c)(3)organization incorporated in NJ and based in Easton, PA. Bodies Like Ours provides peer support for people born with an intersex condition and helps them erase their shame and secrecy. We are dependent upon your financial support to continue our work. Please consider making a donation today online by visiting our website at http://www.bodieslikeours.org.