When You Are Born a Hermaphrodite

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Recommended: Societal pressures affecting hermaphrodites

The condition of being born with both sex organs has existed for a long time. In past years, these individuals that were born with both sexes lived normal lives until science started evolving and deciding upon what is socially acceptable and what is not. Not long ago did such condition became known to the public by scientists who were trying to determine sexual identities. As medicine gradually became more modern, surgical procedures began to determine the sexuality of many individuals who were born with both sex organs. Even though such procedures became very successful, at times these children who are chosen a sex grew up under the constant pressure of being accepted in society under the sex that they were given. The life of these children called “hermaphrodites” is often characterized by society’s acceptance and their own personal inclination towards the sex that they feel most comfortable with. Individuals born with both sexes should be left as they are born until they can make a decision on their own and choose between becoming fully male or female, rather than having scientist determine what is surgically or socially correct for that specific individual.

In the long run when these children try to identify their true sex, they have a tendency to suffer from psychological traumas. Doctors and scientist have insisted on fixing every aspect of the human body. Such that they are practicing surgical procedures that in the long run turn into big mistakes. When a child is born with both sex organs scientist call upon a state of emergency, and place their authority to try and “correct nature’s mistakes” (Fausto-Sterling, 37). But is there really any fixing to do? Imagine how traumatic it must be for these individuals to find out tha...

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...l be able to determine their gender, only the child will determine their sexual preference when they are old enough to decide with which gender they feel most satisfied with. Surgical procedures take away the opportunity for these individuals to actually life a normal life and decide on a gender.

Works Cited

Fallon, Jr., L. Fleming. "Hermaphroditism." The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders. Ed. Stacey L. Blachford. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 26 Mar. 2014

Guterman, Lydia. "Why Are Doctors Still Performing Genital Surgery on Infants?" Open Society Foundations (OSF). N.p., 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.

"New Guidelines for Treating 'intersex' Babies." Msnbc.com. N.p., 18 Feb. 2005. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.

"The Extermination of Hermaphrodites in the "Developed World"" Zwischengeschlecht.org. N.p., 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.

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