Intersex Variations & When Is Surgery Considered: Ethical Guide
What Are Intersex Variations & When Is Surgery Considered? — Essential Context for Every Visitor Executive Summary: Key Takeaways Intersex variations, which doctors often term Differences of Sex Development (DSD), refer to innate variations in a person’s sex characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, or anatomy. In short, being intersex is simply a natural part of human biological diversity, affecting up to 1.7% of the global population. This foundational guide, therefore, provides critical ethical context for care. To begin with: Intersex is an umbrella term for dozens of different biological conditions, notably not a single one. Furthermore, treatment for an intersex variation falls into two categories: necessary (that is, to ensure organ function or prevent life-threatening conditions) and elective (in other words, for cosmetic or social reasons). Crucially, current global medical consensus strongly advocates for delaying all non-medically necessary surgeries on infants and children until the individual is mature enough to provide
