Georgetown Law Journal
November, 2003
Westlaw ©2003 cite as 92 GEO L.J. 129 reprinted with permission of the author

Note

*129 WHO DECIDES? GENITAL-NORMALIZING SURGERY ON INTERSEXED INFANTS
Alyssa Connell Lareau [FNa1]

page 12

[FN20]. John was not born intersexed, but the results of his operation were used as a model for the treatment of intersexed infants.

[FN21]. Diamond & Sigmundson, supra note 14, at 299.

[FN22]. Chase, supra note 13, at 453 (quoting early surgeons' maxim: "[Y]ou can dig a hole, but you can't build a pole").

[FN23]. Diamond & Sigmundson, supra note 14, at 299.

[FN24]. See Chase, supra note 13, at 452.

[FN25]. Diamond & Sigmundson, supra note 14, at 298 (citing JOHN MONEY, SEX ERRORS OF THE BODY AND RELATED SYNDROMES: A GUIDE TO COUNSELING CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES 132 (2d ed. 1994)).

[FN26]. Id. at 299.

[FN27]. Id. at 301.

[FN28]. Id. at 301-02.

[FN29]. Id. at 300-01.

[FN30]. See Chase, supra note 13, at 452-53; Fausto-Sterling, supra note 2, at 21; Kate Johnson, Genital Surgery in Intersex Infants Often Found Inadequate, OB. GYN. NEWS, July 1, 2001, at 18 (noting that "[o]ne-quarter of intersex adults who had genital surgery as infants are unable to have orgasm"); Melton, supra note 1, at 2110 (noting that, although less radical than the traditional clitorectomies, the more recent clitoral reduction surgeries are not entirely successful in preserving orgasm capability); Alice Dreger, Intersex, FATHERING, at http://www.fathermag.com/206/intersex (last visited Nov. 10, 2003) ("[T]hese surgeries carry great risks, including risks to genital sensation ..., continence, fertility, and life.").

[FN31]. See Creighton et al., supra note 18, at 125 ("It is important that clinicians and parents understand that genital ambiguity cannot be corrected in infancy by a single procedure. For most individuals further treatment will be necessary in adolescence and the long-term impact of such treatment on adult sexual function is still unknown."). Performing the operation early may actually create more harm, as "[c]litoral regrowth occur[s] in 39% of patients" and "[r]epeated clitoral surgery may be more damaging to sexual function than a single procedure." Id. In an interview, Dr. Creighton advised: "I would recommend that [parents and physicians] consider deferring genital surgery until adolescence. And if surgery is going to be repeated anyway, perhaps they should consider not doing it at all .... Vaginal surgery is not necessary for small girls because small girls don't use vaginas." Johnson, supra note 30, at 18.

[FN32]. See Blizzard, supra note 12, at 618; Judson J. Van Wyk & Ali S. Calikoglu, Should Boys with Micropenis Be Reared as Girls?, 134 J. PEDIATRICS 537, 537 (1999).

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