Greetings!
I was born as mixed gendered, but was operated on (at birth) to make me male (which didn't do much good). I have a scar between my penis and anus that looks like it used to be a vagina. I stayed female-looking, and even my own family said I was always too pretty to be a boy. I have been living as a woman for well over 12 years now (with hormones), and am XY chromosomed. Funny thing: when I tried to live as a male, many would call me "she". As a female, many call me "he".
Sexually, I have always been better with men than women, but have learned a valuable lesson and am now celibate for the past 10 years. I am waiting to afford the "sex change" before I attempt dating again.
At least my biological family loves me, and are supportive. If anybody knows about my condition (and what it is called), please let me know. Unfortunately, the ISNA (Intersex Society of North America) denies people like me exist.

-Katt

i know the problems with isna , they havent been verry helpfull to me either ,, i understand.. but yes you do exsist.... well atleast i know i do!!!!! welcome , beach

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mutation is THE key to evolution {{{{xxxy}}}}undefined

:) Hi my name is Julanne. mmm scar between your legs. What kind of operation did you have?? have you asked your family. I have read a lot about the INSA and they don't realy seem to take all fact into account. It is fustrating. Even though I was born XY also I have always identifed myself female. When you say "my condtion" what do you mean? Transexuals have just as much right to support as intersexuals. We suffer a lot of the same problems. There is a lot of open minded people here. I would never deny support just because your not labled intersexed. I did want to say welcome. And feel free to post. Your life and story is just a valuable as anybody eles.

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You really have to love yourself, to get anything done in this world!

Julanne

Hi Katt!

I posed the question as to whether I was intersexed to someone on a list I was on. He happened to be a 5 alpha-reductase intersex (pardon me if I didn't get the name quite right). (I say, "he" because I was told that was how he identified.) He said I wasn't. I thought I might have had hypospadias when I was born. It always looked weird to me when I was growing up. Like the remnants of a scar, shaped like a fleur-de-lis, on the underside of that "thing". I haven't gotten my medical birth records, so I have no verification. My mother told me that I was "almost a girl" and I ruminated on that for a number of years before I finally got nerve to ask my father (my mother being dead by that time) and he said, "Your mother took care of that." as if he were ignorant of what actually transpired. One of my sisters asked him, at the prompting of another sister, and he said that everything was quite "normal" when I was born. One of those "make you feel good", "God is in his heaven and all is right with the world" answers? Did he mean that she presided over getting me to act the proper role of a male in the world? I don't know what either of them meant. I just know that for some reason I hid my feelings about myself for most of my life. Hypospadias is usually operated on between the ages of six months to two years, depending on severity. If indeed I was hypospadiac, the repair, using the available foreskin, was a success. If your peehole was originally placed that far back, the surgery would be more obvious. Frequency is estimated between one per cent to one in 350 "boys". One complaint intersexes have made about transsexuals is that we look for causes and too-often, like Lilli Elbe--and no one knows about her, blame being TS on being intersex.

Nameste,
Zhanai

Perhaps I should have been more clear. I was operated on as a baby. The doctors kept me "for observation" afterward, and never told my biological parents. My father found out and tried to kill me. He went to jail, and I was adopted out. I found my real mother, and let her know what I was able to find out. She still loves me, as do my real brother and sister. I may have been raised as a male after having a vagina sewn shut, but prefer to be female. SO...in a way, I am both intersexed AND transgender.

Very interesting, SO many labels, yet so little answers sometimes.
I was very lucky to read all my records, and see many birth pictures so I fully understand what happened to me and why and what my condition is called. If you don't have records there is a lot of self dignosis going on, Sure you can think that you have one thing and some one cold tell you its another, but unless records and pictures are well documented it hard to say what the real truth is. A lot of intersexuals start from that point and work ther way back to the truth, if the tuth can be found. I have wondered about transexuals and how close their lives can in fact can be very much the same as intersexuals. but can you be both? How does that work? Silly labels. I'm not trying to say that your not intersexed, or that your not a transexual, but the line between them seems to be, if your condition can be catorgrised and named, and to what degree your genital anomoly is.
I'm very sorry to hear about your father and the struggles you went through with gender. I'm intersexed male, ambigous gentials, raised female with surgery, and now am gay but firmly in the role of girl. I'm not butch or femm. I have a boyish side (named Jules) "get it, jewls":p and a very worldly womanly side named Julanne. Julanne is tomgirlish, Jules is flambount. so I'm very inbetween the genders, yet I would not have me any other way i hope you feel that way about yourself or are trying to reach for side of yourself were you are a pround intersexual!! Surgery is very exspensive, I hope you get what you are looking for Katt you deserve the best!!!

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You really have to love yourself, to get anything done in this world!

Julanne

hay betsy looks like i wont have to wright that paper on TS/IS syndrome .... looks like a few people here know it already.... im still gona write it ...... beach

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mutation is THE key to evolution {{{{xxxy}}}}undefined

For anyone who doesn't know, a person raised as the wrong sex and feels uncomfortable with it, is TS. Maybe that's too simple. David Reimer is an example, though people might not think so. Heike B. was, among intersexes, though I think she wants to be left out of the picture, right now. And, you too, Beach? Nah, you have to be so well-adjusted by now.

Things aren't always what they seem.

hugs

Zhanai

;)

Hi Everyone,

I've read with interest and some discomfort this series of emails regarding trans/intersex issues, and the perception of ISNA's general unhelpfulness in this area. My apologies to anyone who has not been able to get the peer support they need via ISNA.

However, as many of you likely know, ISNA is not set up as a peer support organization the way that Bodies Like Ours is, or the way that some trans groups are. Our mission is to end shame, secrecy, and unwanted surgery for people with intersex conditions. We are a policy/advocacy organization working toward systemic social change. As such, our resources are necessarily pulled away from direct peer support and toward engagement with medical providers, legislators, other activists, etc.

Also, just to be clear, we are not in the business of denying the existence of particular kinds of bodies. Often, we simply do not know enough about an individual based on a brief email to be able to respond appropriately. And while some transgendered/transsexual folks may indeed be intersexed, many are not. Inaccurate claims of intersex status by trans people causes some people with intersex conditions real emotional pain and trauma--and we hear about this regularly via email and phone. Moreover, the inclusion of intersex in transgender issues tends to erase the very real needs of people with intersex conditions.

At the heart of ISNA's mission is fostering social acceptance of all bodies--be they intersex or not, trans or not, queer or not--and fostering informed consent for people to decide what happens to their bodies. Many people with intersex conditions have choice stripped from them when they are operated on as children, while many trans people have choice stripped from them when they are unable to obtain the surgical care they want and need.

Perhaps we can all be better served by recognizing that there are both shared interests and concerns here as well as distinct needs, and that any one organization can only do so much. Also, while inclusivity is always a better goal than exclusivity, it is important to acknowledge differences and the ways in which they might sometimes get in the way of building coalitions, requiring additional hard work.

I would be happy to discuss these issues further if anyone is interested.

Best wishes,
Monica


Monica J. Casper, Ph.D.
Executive Director, ISNA