Intersex (Part 2 of 3)

[lupeandtony]

It seems so backwards to me....for a human being to change what nature has created. It's simply barbaric.

[cavemantiger]

If I ever have an intersex baby I'll just raise them as a child and let them choose who they want to be. If they want surgery they can decide when they're old enough. I would raise them to understand what they are, and let them choose for themselves who they are.

[skaania]

I cannot even imagine how confused such ppl must be... but I'm kinda of wondering: one the one hand it's not ok to perform surgery on intersex babies, they shoudl be allowed to choose when they are older - why? because the doctor's decision might be wrong... BUT isn't it even more difficult for a child to live not knowing who he or she exactly is? having features of both male and female? I mean for adults it may be easier to cope and eventually choose, but for kids?

[deadpoetoftheyear]

Kind of weird the doc thinks surgery is easier on a kid at age 1 than at age 10. When you are 10 you have a good verbal memory and you can put words to your experience. You cannot when you are one. I guess he counts on the kid forgetting it if it is done early, but I guess he doesn't realize there is an emotional memory as well.

Why not say it as it is, that a 10 year old can protest, so why wait for that?

He KNOWS what he is doing is wrong.. he is just to scared to admit that to himself.

[amy1w1]

Well this is educational. If I have an intersex child I'll let them wear whatever they want and give them a name that can mean either and they can decide what genital surgery (if any) they want when they're older.

[TheNakedLibrarian]

(cont.) it being that far removed. YOU are the reason our society cannot/will not progress. Shame on you!!!

[TheNakedLibrarian]

Oh my.... Dr Glassberg. You are an evil, evil man.I am going to refer to Pink Floyd here and just say "leave them kids alone!". You are the quintessential reason (or proof) that most humans really haven't evolved much past the middle ages.Society does not dictate that a choice MUST be made. STUPID (not to say uneducated- just stoooopid) people like you cannot think outside of the box - let alone accept that which is outside of the box. Personally with it being so common, I dont consider...

[brukup1]

For any parent with a child with sexual ambiguity, please read the book "As nature created him." So sad and tragic. So many errors and a doctor with his own self-serving agenda. So many lives destroyed senselessly.

[RioEllington]

@brukup1

THat book made me cry. Note to all: Bring tisssues if you want to read that.

[CandysSweetShop]

I love that "normal sexed" doctors remain convinced that assigning sex at birth is the right idea, even when every intersex individual thinks it has negatively impacted their lives. How would the doctors know which is more traumatic? It's never happened to them.

[MrOmeMan]

Heh... I think this documentary, alone, would turn all homophobes against their beliefs. lol. Talk about educating ignorance so its hate will go away.

[150marianne]

oh my god. performing surgery on intersex people while they are still babies is like ruining their very lives. i believe intersex people are unique and beautiful, and have rights to be themselves like males and females, LGBT's, etc.

[soniakiwi]

If I had an intersex child I would tell him or her to be themselves. I would never allow my child to be surgically altered. This should be my child's decision once he/she becomes an adult. I think it is a crime that these people were altered without their consent.

[Walabio]

When the quack Glsassberg went over the problems of Katrina and what he planned to do, my response was all she needs is the urinary problem. Then Cheryl Chase said what I thought. I have a question for the quack Glassberg:

“¿Why perform cosmetic surgery on the intersexed at all?”

Sexual pleasure is what makes life worth living. The quack Glassberg cares nothing about preserving sexual function. It would be more humane if the quack Glassberg would murder these babies in cold blood.

[ThisIsMyDeen]

How can an intersex person truly become "homosexual"? for an intersex person, being "homosexual" would mean sexual attraction only to other intersex persons; which still isn't exactly gay, in the traditional sense, because both persons have a vagina and a penis. If an intersex person has sexual relations with a person of their assigned gender identity, that's not true homosexuality.

[gablison]

culture smulture! that shit is bullshit... if we succumbed to culture... society... or whatever else... then we wont improve as a people... we'd still b backward!

[suddenlyitsobvious]

The med system just love this kind of guinea pig situation, and the system in a broader sense loves gender confusion. Scary to see these experts and surgeons, cutting away at little babies. Oh, for a "good reason" of course...Always a good reason.

I have the strong suspicion that profs going into these fields -already since the days of Hirschfeld and before- are troubled inividuals to put it mildly. The experimenting is a butchery & in fact, the entire toxic med "culture" criminally sucks.

[mindyourbizok]

Intersexed people should't have to fight who they are. They shouldn't get surgery. Roberto's mom looks so young. She probably had him very young. They look like siblings.

[theantidoter]

fuckked upp to cut up these babies

[Zentwang]

Therefore, sometimes, sex can be just as ambiguous as gender. For transsexuals or transgenders, their sex is either male or female, but their genders are usually more representative of the opposite sex. For the intersexed, their sex, as well as their genders can be mixed.

Just like transgenders are given time to decide a sex change. The intersexed should be afforded the same opportunity. We need to stop these Frankensteinian premature sex operations before puberty. Let the intersexed decide!

[GeminiAuntie]

I think that they should halt the surgeries until the person is of legal age to decide for themselves so they're not spending their lives trying to be a sex that they don't feel they are.

[JoeyJackal]

That doctor at the end seems very ignorant. Intersexes I've come across - those which have had surgery - have always ended up transsexual because they don't identify with the sex decided for them by a stranger who doesn't really have a say in the matter. Imagine being born with both penis and vagina then removing the penis and later on in life discovering you're transgendered and that surgeons took from you what could have been a perfectly normal working penis. Pisses me off.

[mesoemo]

Intersex should be able to choose!

and if they have an issue that is life threatening doctors should try to perform a surgery for that problem only and not mutilate any parts!

[sandychick94]

TLC and the Discovery Channel are the same thing?

[srubi74]

@sandychick94 They are all owned by one company "Discovery"- TLC, Discovery Health, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and maybe some others, so some of the documentaries and shows will be shown on more than one channel.

[MrZtruk]

if only our stupid heads could figure out that gender isn't binary

[sugarplumapathy]

Once we're programmed a certain way for most of our lives, it's hard to see it any differently. Before today I only knew of hermaphrodites, never have I heard the term intersex. People hear of these cases, and most of us automatically think 'Yeah okay, but what sex is it REALLY?' It's just hard to think of these things openly, it's sad really how society regards sex and gender identity in such black and white terms.

[Eclectic88]

Makes me happy that in that Dominican Village they don't discriminate. Often in the Latin Community they are extremely prejudice.

[erwintipton]

OMG , that is a flat out LIE, The only way an intersexed or hermaphrodite can be homosexual is they have sexual relations with another intersexed or hermaphrodite person ,Altho it can happen its not realty

[Mazecat]

Leave those babies alone! NO cosmetic surgery for infants. Love them, raise them in the sex you feel is closest but let them decide down the track if they want surgery or not. Sexual identity is far more than what your genitals look like. Adults have no right to make irreversible surgical decisions on what gender they think an infant child should conform to. Love that child. Raise them in the gender you think is most appropriate but leave surgery out of it. That's for them to decide later.

[realar]

@Mazecat We need to have another option for those unique babies not male nor female.

[carcassette]

Brilliant doc- but if everyone was just loving and accepting, none of this wd matter. These people wd be allowed to be what they are.

[PollyDick]

Clearly this doctor is not basing opinion on how actual intersexuals feel! How arrogant, to assume such a thing!

[303Miles]

"Our culture demands it?" I guess if you say so.

[gladitsnotme]

"This is a BIG vagina." 7:39 LMFAOOOOO!

[jcisbell]

What are you - 12?

[gladitsnotme]

Oh grow a sense of humor! That was the quote of the century!! "This is a big vagina" out of nowhere! lol xD Katrina is fine, God bless her and her family. We can laugh at something that idiot doctor said without being "12". Seesh!

[jcisbell]

Sorry I misunderstood you then. It's hard to tell sometimes from just text. take care

[Elyazateran]

How can he sleep with girls and boys if he didn't have a penis?

Sad stories :(.

[jcisbell]

he has a penis. Wikipedia "hypospadea" His penis has a hole in the base.

[HouseOfRainbow]

This is an excellent documentary and I hope that all spectrum of society, Politicians, Parents, families and religious leaders learn from this.

[SylvanaForrester]

Jesus Christ that doctor is an idiot.

[unlicenced2breed]

you're lucky if your parents were brave and left your body alone til you're old enuf 2 decide for yourself.... its your choice... i kept the genitalia i was born with. its who i am and if that makes me a freak then fuk it! shows how dysfunctional society is when the normal practice is to mutilate newborns that come out a little different.

[dmatt10635]

This doctor says at the end, telling someone when they are 13 years old that we are going to make you a vagina is more traumatic than doing it at infancy.....OMG.....I can't imagine ANYTHING more traumatic than a young male saying....HEY...WHERE IS MY PENIS?!

[lostindreams3]

I have yet to ever hear an intersexed person say that they are glad someone performed a surgery on them as an infant.

[JezebelDecibel]

@lostindreams3 The surgical outcomes are always greatly more beneficial post puberty. I am glad the slight issue I had was not surgically interfered with until I was an adult.

[lostindreams3]

It's better IMO in the case of children born in these ways to put aside the protection from talking about sexual issues because the rest of their life is at stake. Let the child be involved in the decision making.

[peaceandparty]

"i will not live up to my false assignment as male"

fair play....i know everyone is trying to fit in....but with categories of just males and females.......most of society cant even start to have a life if their intersex self is not recognised

[waitingtolive]

your just a guy.

[shortcutebutch]

never do surgeries Let the person descide for them self!!!!!!

[Rinsuki]

Leave them alone. Geez, let them be the people that they were born to be. If they are intersex then let it be. If it ain't broken don't fix it. No medical reasons for it then leave it be.

[peaceandparty]

nice one rinsuki

[TheonenonlyRMD]

It's sad to hear people say "I thought suicide would be a reasonable alternative" :/

[antigeekess]

"Each of us is a unique combination of male AND female, influenced by the exact hormone bath we are exposed to before birth." EXACTLY.

[TheonenonlyRMD]

anti: I had been wondering about this for a long time...It's nice to know that I wasn't alone in this. Nothing's completely one side or the other it's just that many try to make things definite b/c they don't like dealing with the confusion...I'm one of the exceptions to this lol

[peaceandparty]

i was going to quote that one myself!thx for saving me the trouble!:)

[waitingtolive]

you told me years ago that you were a normal man you are a fake leave these people alone and stop the pretense!

[peaceandparty]

a fake what?

a fake "man"-yes!

who are you?

and when did we ever talk?

and oh yeah happy new year!

xxys are certainly not normal "men"

have you any more questions!

peace be with you always

[collegeguy2009]

amen

[iraqidolphin]

Doctors should do non life supporting surgeries after puberty when youth can choose. Raise the child androgynous.

[collegeguy2009]

amen

[iraqidolphin]

The moony Winnipeg disaster where a baby lost his penis was raised as a girl because they thought a child without a penis could be raised female and suffer less. What a huge mistake. What power drs have. Interesting case to learn from. Bless this man for sharing his childhood nightmare.