Gender Reassignment

Not all children are born with a clear-cut gender. There are many reasons for this and if you look at the way in which a fetus's sexual organs develop it is no wonder that things sometimes go wrong. When an infant is born whose sex cannot be easily determined by looking at the external genitalia, it poses a dilemma for medical staff and the baby’s parents. It is not difficult to imagine the consternation for parents if something we all take for granted cannot be stated at the moment of birth, a boy or a girl.

When sexual ambiguity occurs the decision to assign gender has largely been determined by the size of the external genitalia. An operation used to be undertaken soon after birth. But over the years the debate has shifted towards individual rights of the child. Research has shown us that it is not simply an issue of having an operation and administrating hormones. Should doctors and parents allow the child as it grows up to decide or should society learn to accept the existence of a third sex?

Look at the facts and issues that contribute to the debate about Gender Reassignment and Ambiguous Sexuality

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