This was sent to me by a colleague and I've since followed up with Kristen. If you are interested, please contact her directly at

Kristin Denver, MA, Doctoral Candidate, 510-301-4788, or email


My name is Kristin Denver. I am a fourth year graduate student at Argosy
University (formally, the American School of Professional Psychology). I am
studying for my Psy.D in Clinical Psychology. As this is my fourth year in the
doctoral program, I am preparing to write a dissertation, or as it is called at
Argosy, a Clinical Research Project, on the experience of being born and raised
with an intersex condition.

This research project will be a phenomenological study on the experience of
being born and raised with an intersex condition. The ultimate goal of this
study is to examine several subjective accounts of being born and raised with an
intersex condition in hopes that others dealing with similar intersex
conditions and situations will have more literature and resources available to them in
their decision making process. This study will also strive to provide the
medical community with valuable documentation of the most effective, ethical and
sensitive ways to help families and individuals dealing with these conditions
and decision.

I first became touched by the stories of intersexed individuals about a year
and half ago. I was fortunate enough to be a part of Naomi O’Keefe’s Human
Sexuality class at Argosy University. Naomi is a compassionate woman, teacher
and psychotherapist who has dedicated her professional work to helping
individuals within the realm of sexology. Naomi was able to compile an amazing panel of
speakers for this course, which is where I first heard one person’s account
of being born intersexed, and how that experience had shaped their life.

After participating in this Human Sexuality course as a student, I was
hooked. I proceeded to act as a teacher’s assistant to Naomi during the next two
Human Sexuality courses. During these courses I had the privilege of hearing more
personal stories from intersexed individuals. My compassion for individuals
who had undergone unwanted sex assignment surgeries, and other unwanted
treatments flourished, as well as my disbelief in the lack of ethical judgement from
the medical community regarding the standard of care for intersexuals. I had
the sense that if I were going to create a Clinical Research Project that might
actually make a difference to others both personally and professionally, that
this was the time to make a positive difference in the treatment and
portrayal of intersexuality.

I am dedicated from the bottom of my heart to making this a respectable,
professional, and most importantly effective piece of literature. For this study
to become the success that I envision, I will need at least 8 participants to
volunteer to tell their experience of being born intersexed. This will entail a
type written account of the individual’s experience of being born intersexed
(ideally anywhere between 10-25 pages in length), and one audio taped
interview with the researcher for clarification purposes. All data collected will be
kept strictly confidential, and all results of the study will be presented
anonymously.

I currently have two participants who have agreed to volunteer for this
study. At this time, six more participants are needed. This letter is hopefully
serving as an announcement of this important study, but also as a genuine request
for help in making this study meaningful. If you are interested in
volunteering a small part of your time to this study, please contact me at your earliest
convenience. Hopefully the results that we will create together will produce
a long-lasting positive influence on the future of intersexuality.

Thank you very much for your time, and for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Kristin N. Denver, MA, Doctoral Candidate

__________________
Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is. --Margaret Mitchell