Intersex Persons and Medical Interventions: An Exploratory Study in India

Intersex persons are born with sex characteristics that are atypical of the male and female sex. In 2006, modern medical science renamed intersex variations as ‘disorders of sex development’. The intersex community condemns this and prefers the term ‘differences in sex development’. This chapter is based on an exploratory study of the lived experiences of intersex people in India, with a specific focus on the effects of medical interventions. The analysis reveals that the medical classification of intersex as a disorder of sex development greatly impacted the medical responses to this condition. Medical opinion, advice, and interventions are entwined with predominantly binary and conflated understandings of sex and gender in our hetero-patriarchal society. This biased understanding of intersex identity greatly affected participants and their families. It also rendered access to quality healthcare inequitable, affecting the physiological, social, emotional, and mental health and well-being of intersex persons. The study documents several other key findings, including the consequences of the lack of social acceptance and belonging of intersex persons at a personal and systemic level. Caste and class systems are also relevant factors. While highlighting the problems associated with sex assignment, including intersex genital mutilation (IGM), the study also reveals the hetero-patriarchal preference for males (children) in India. At the same time, an inherent ableist perspective led to female assignment preference when disabilities were involved. This chapter also highlights how medical understandings combined with social, cultural, and patriarchal systems have an adverse effect on all aspects of the lives of intersex persons in India.